Officials with the Department of Energy came to Unalaska in late September to discuss infrastructure grant opportunities and ways to diversify local energy sources.
Erin Whitney leads the Arctic Energy Office, the only Alaska-focused office within the Department of Energy. She works closely with Geri Richmond, the DOE’s Under Secretary for Science and Innovation.
The pair took part in a roundtable discussion Sept. 27 with industry, city and tribal leaders in Unalaska. There, local officials raised concerns about issues that affect energy consumption on the island, from environmental contamination to increased military activity in the Aleutians.
Whitney and Richmond addressed some of those concerns in an interview with KUCB’s Andy Lusk, and discussed the federal-level buzz around geothermal power and the work of the Arctic Energy Ambassadors Program.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
TRANSCRIPTION
Erin Whitney: The Arctic Energy Office is one of about 50 offices within the Department of Energy. Dr. Richmond oversees Science and Innovation. Then there’s two other main branches: one pertains to nuclear, and then another pertains to deployment. Those 50 offices are spread out amongst those three different branches.
What is unique about the Arctic Energy Office is that we are the only regional office within the Department of Energy ecosystem. There’s no other office like us anywhere else in the Department of Energy. It’s particularly important because we are in not only a region that is so different from the rest of the United States, but also a region that is huge and needs a cross-cutting office to help coordinate departmental activities and bring extra attention and treatment to the diversity of problems and challenges and opportunities that exist up here.
Geri Richmond: There is no office of Colorado. There is no office of Montana. But there is an Office of Arctic Energy, which is in Alaska. The fact that the department and — with the help of your Congressional folks — have felt this was important to have in the Department of Energy, is a real big win.
Andy Lusk: We spoke a lot about renewable energy at the roundtable. I’m sure you’ve heard all sorts of discussions about why people are so excited about renewable energy and why it’s such a challenge to bring it out here. But what were some things that were surprising to you?
GR: I’m not sure anything was that surprising to me, but what I did learn was that some of the issues we encounter with regard to renewables are just a lot harder here. The workforce issues, the wind as strong as you could have for a hurricane — how does that affect solar panels? There are so many issues we have with renewables in the country that are just taken to the extreme.
That said, it’s also a great opportunity. Geothermal is one that we have so much hope for. The Secretary of Energy, Secretary Granholm, just keeps saying, “we’ve got to use the heat beneath our feet,” and this is just a fantastic place for us to see if we can really deliver on that.
EW: I don’t think of it so much as renewable energy, as diversified sources of energy. One of the things I hear over and over up here is that it’s about improving our resiliency and our security as communities, because we do have these isolated communities that are not connected to other electrical grids, and it makes them really vulnerable.
At the same time, Dutch Harbor and other communities are really important for national security. One thing we’ve heard [about] over and over during this visit is the increased military presence here as international activities become more and more frequent by perhaps unfriendly international agents. Our nation depends on the health, vibrancy and survival of this community from that standpoint, and also from a food security standpoint.
I heard that 60, 70% of our nation’s seafood, or processed fish, comes from Dutch Harbor. That is astounding, and I don’t think many people realize that. It requires us to step in and help provide resources, to think about what that future energy demand might mean, and how that frames the way we develop energy projects today. That is assistance and technical assistance that the department can provide or make available.
GR: There’s also an opportunity. It puts more urgency on doing the kinds of things that we want to do up here with regard to diversifying the energy resources and making them sustainable.
AL: I don’t want to alarm people by talking about military increase, but being as realistic as we can — what do you want folks here to know about how their energy consumption might change?
GR: The Department of Energy is watching it very, very closely. This is a very unpredictable time, and we just have to make certain that we are thinking ahead about how we can prepare, to make sure that our assets are used in the most positive way that they can for this community.
AL: Talk to me about some of the grants.
EW: We talked with the community about some of the grants they have applied for. We’ve heard about Community Change Grants they’ve applied for from the EPA. We’ve heard about formula funds that they’ve applied for from the Department of Energy. Formula funds are essentially allocated financial assistance for a community, region or tribal entity that are dedicated to that entity, as long as the entity applies for it.
The Department of Energy has a technical assistance program called the [Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project], or ETIPP. Nikolski and St. George are two communities in the Aleutians that are currently part of that program, not Dutch Harbor.
AL: So we could be a part of ETIPP?
EW: Absolutely. The third cohort of ETIPP awards was just announced very recently, and there’s always a number of Alaska communities in those cohorts. I don’t know how many more cohorts there will be, but Dutch Harbor could apply.
GR: The real challenge in this is making — and that’s why we’re here — is really making people aware of what’s out there. There are people out there that are successful because they know where to look and how to look, and they know how to put their proposal together. What we’re here for is to say, “we’re here to help you so that the rich don’t get richer,” if I can put it that way, that the communities that really need it have the advice and the capabilities to let us know what the issues are. We can tie them in with the right programs and make sure that this community can take full advantage of what’s out there.
I’d really like to have Erin talk a little bit about the Arctic Ambassador Program, because that’s a biggie — and it’s really her creation — in helping advise the communities here in Alaska that something is coming down the road that you’ve got to grab onto.
EW: The Arctic Energy Ambassador Program is something we started in January of this year, so we’ve been underway for eight or nine months now. It’s a cohort of 12 ambassadors in each of the regional Native corporation areas. In the Aleutians, it’s Laresa Syverson, your local celebrity.
It’s about them sharing information and comparing notes and strategies and approaches and learning from each other. But it’s also a way for our department, through the Arctic Energy Office, to make sure we’re getting information about department programs to everyone in all the different corners of the state.
Similarly, it’s a chance for the department to get feedback from people on the ground — what’s not working, what’s working, what the obstacles are, what our blind spots are. That’s just as important to refining these programs and making them more responsive and more useful to the communities here.
