Featured article in the Alaska Energy Pioneer Summer 2015 newsletter on the 2015 DOE Rural Utilities Study (RUS).
Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs
June 2, 2015
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The Shugnak power plant is one of nearly 30 rural utilities the RUS team is visiting in 2015. Photo from Alaska Center for Energy and Power, NREL 33697.
Among the most pressing needs in rural Alaska is tackling the high cost of energy. The 2015 DOE Rural Utilities Study (RUS) is looking at ways to meet that challenge sustainably.
“We’re taking a comprehensive, objective, outside look at the status of the situation,” said DOE Office of Indian Energy Alaska Program Manager Givey Kochanowski, who is part of a team that’s canvassing rural utilities across the state.
In addition to tribal utilities, the team will visit investor-owned utilities, municipally owned utilities and co-ops for a representative sampling of roughly a third of Alaska’s 88 rural utilities.
The RUS team will explore why investment in renewable energy is not more robust in rural Alaska given the high cost of power. Based on their findings, the study will identify potential solutions, make recommendations, and help DOE determine how it can best support state and local efforts.