The goal of the conference is to create a forum for energy stakeholders to share ideas and information with the hope of promoting economic development, environmental sustainability and energy security for Alaskans.
Discussions and presentations will focus on exploring the technical and economic feasibility of both existing fossil fuel and renewable energy options for rural Alaska, discuss new technologies, recent success stories, and identify what the state and industry can do to help rural utilities function at the highest possible level.
Structured within Business, Technology, and Maintenance & Operations tracks, sessions will cover topics including load management, data monitoring and analysis, plant operations, federal funding and local financing, asset management, efficiency, energy storage, rate setting, renewables, heat recovery, diesel maintenance, planning, clean energy integration, bulk fuel farms, alternative fuels, power system distribution, capacity building, workforce development, and more!
AGENDA & PRESENTATIONS
Monday, September 30: Alaska Energy Justice Economic Forum
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Justice & Equity, this one-day Forum aims to connect Alaskans, Alaska Native entities, and other attendees to federal, state, and local resources that will set them on a path of economic opportunity, growth, and wealth creation. Learn about community benefit plans, Justice40, and Department of Energy resources, and inform DOE processes that focus on job and business development, municipal and tribal government benefits, job quality, and community services.
| 8:30 am |
Energy Expo, Opening Networking, & Breakfast – Minto Room
To kick-off our day, we welcome attendees to connect with one another to foster relationships and learn of exciting and innovative clean energy ideas taking shape within the Alaskan community. Select exhibitors will be available to share information about their projects and provide insight on how to collaborate with them. |
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| 10:00 am |
Opening Session – Gold Ballroom West ● Land Acknowledgement ● Welcome & Introductions |
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| 10:20 am | Plenary – Alaska Energy Economy – Gold Ballroom West | |
| 11:20 am | Break & Networking | |
| 11:35 am | Lunch Plenary – Keynote – Gold Ballroom West | |
| 1:00 pm | Workforce Development – Yukon | Community Benefits Plan Session – Tanana |
| 2:30 pm | Break & Networking | |
| 2:45 pm | Plenary – Alaska Opportunities – Gold Ballroom West | |
| 3:45 pm | Closing Remarks | |
| 4:00 pm | Energy Expo – Minto Room | |
Tuesday, October 1: Preconference Sessions and Activities
All day: PCE Training – Conducted by Alaska Energy Authority – Katherine Aubry, AEA
8:30am – 12:30pm: Grid Resilience – DOE Grid Deployment Office
- GDO Overview Alaska Energy Oct 1
- 10.1.24 EW Grid Resiliency Workshop pre-conference
- Grid Resilence Panel Tanana Chiefs Conference October 2024
- Climate Resilience of the Energy Sector Arctic PNNL – short – Final
- The U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO) will host a pre-conference workshop to share GDO funding opportunities (including both formula and competitive grants) to improve grid resilience in the face of extreme weather and natural disasters. GDO will provide examples of funded projects, followed by facilitated discussions to support tribes and rural Alaska communities in improving grid resilience. Based on understanding the challenges related to climate change and severe weather events in Alaska, GDO will present information on grid resilience options that will lead to facilitated discussions on:
- How technology deployment choices affect energy system resilience.
- Technology deployment options that can support lasting system resilience improvements
- The workshop will conclude by highlighting how GDO technical assistance resources and support could be valuable to help tribes and remote AK communities navigate future resilient energy system funding opportunities, with a brief introduction on how other DOE program funding could support projects that complement grid resilience (e.g. microgrids, battery storage).
1pm – 4pm: Bulk Fuel Summit – Denali Commission
Agnew Beck – 10-01-24_FAIBulkFuelSummit_GuidingSlides_FINAL
- At the bulk fuel summit in April, there were presentations about the critical role tank farms play in rural communities, AEA’s current inventory and assessment as a source of information about the state of these facilities, and the increasing gap between funding needed to provide critical repair, rebuilds, and relocations versus the very low level of annual funding typically available. This follow-up work session will build on outcomes, including to discuss potential efficiencies available by aggregating tank farm administrative/management and spill prevention/response tasks under regional entities or a statewide entity, freeing up cash that could be reinvested in capital improvement projects while also extending the life of facilities and reducing the number of spills through improved management.
Visit: Safety Trailer – Alaska Power Association
- APA’s Loss Control and Safety Specialist plans to conduct two safety demonstrations using the new APA Safety Trailer. Attendees will see the training opportunities for educating community members on electric utility hazards, safety concepts and how the electric system works.
5:30 – 7pm: Evening Reception – Meet and Greet – Westmark Hotel – Northern Latitudes
Day 1: Wednesday, October 2
| Wednesday, October 2, 2024 | |||
| 7:30 am | Breakfast | ||
| 8:00 am |
Welcome to the 2024 Rural Energy Conference – Gold Ballroom Emcee – Robert Venables, Southeast Conference ● Betty Ross, Deputy Director, Tanana Chiefs Conference ● Mayor David Pruhs, City of Fairbanks ● Mayor Bryce Ward, Fairbanks North Star Borough ● Tanya Kaquatosh, Doyon ● Chancellor Dan White, University of Alaska Fairbanks ● Video Address – Congressional Delegation |
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| 9:00 am | Break | ||
| 9:30 am |
Renewable Integration in Rural Alaska: Inspirational Case Studies – Gold Ballroom Moderated by Bill Stamm, AVEC ● Tim Kalke, Sustainable Energy Galena Alaska 5SEGA_RE_Integration_10-1-24 Kalke ● Tom Atkinson, Kotzebue Electric Association 4Atkinson-AIEDA Meeting PP ● Jonathan Salmon, Igiugig Village Council 2Renewable Integration in Alaska inspirational studies salmon ● Clay Koplin, Cordova Electric 3REC Integrating Renewables Case Panel Koplin 240929 ● Peter Asmus, ACEP 1Rural Energy Conference (10-2-24) Asmus |
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| 11:00 am | BREAK | ||
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11:30 pm
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Lunch Plenary – Maximizing Federal Investments – Gold Ballroom Moderated by Erin Whitney, DOE Arctic Energy Office ● Opening Remarks – Dr. Geri Richmond, Under Secretary of Science and Innovation, DOE ● Jocelyn Fenton, Denali Commission ● Julia Hnilicka, USDA RD ● Jolene John, BIA ● Michael Kuca, DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations ● James Jensen, DOE, Office of Indian Energy |
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| 1:00 pm | BREAK | ||
| Business & Utility Management–Gold Ballroom West | Technology & Infrastructure-Gold Ballroom East | Operations & maintenance-Tanana | |
| 1:30 pm |
Successful projects require specific skills – cultivating a rural Alaska energy workforce Moderated by Annalise Klein, UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power 20241002_REC_EnergyWorkforcePanel Klein ● Bryan Uher, University of Alaska ● Chris McConnell, AEA ● Mariko Selle, Alaska Workforce Alliance ● Bill E. Schnabel, UAF, College of Engineering & Mines ● Michelle Spillane, UAF Upward Bound |
Digitizing utilities: Data Monitoring & Analysis Moderated by Dayne Broderson ● Clay Koplin, Cordova Electric REC Digitizing Utilities 240929 – Koplin ● John Venables, EPC ● Aimie Survant, AVEC 241001 Digitizing Utilities – Survant
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Challenges and Best Practices with Bulk Fuel (part 1) – operations, maintenance & improvement Moderated by Katie Conway, Denali Commission ● Dean Maschner, AEA ● Shannon Oelkers, Integrity Environmental Integrity Env PPT_AK Rural Energy Conf oelkers bulk fuel ● Mark Swenson, HDL HDL Presentation #1 – BFU M&I Swenson ● Lynn Kenealy, DCRA 2024 Energy Conference DCRA Presentation Kenealy ● Sarah Moore DEC Bulk Fuel Pt1 2024_Rural Energy Conference – Moore |
| 2:45 pm | BREAK | ||
| 3:15 pm |
It’s not a grant but it might be almost as good: financing tools & strategies to use to pay for projects Moderated by Dave Messier, Tanana Chiefs Conference 2024_REC_FinancePresentation – Messier ● Michelangelo Bustamante, Native American Bank ● Jodi Mitchell, Inside Passage Electric Cooperative 2024 Oct REC Presentation J Mitchell IPEC ● Ruben den Uyl, Northern Energy Capital NEC_RuralEnergyConference_ProjectFinance_20240918_IPEC |
Renewable Integration: Evaluating Technical & Economic Feasibility Moderated by Cady Lister, Southeast Conference ● James Jensen, DOE Office of Indian Energy Jensen_Evaluating Technical and Economic Feasibility ● Elan Edgerly, ANTHC Edgerly – Rural Energy Conference – 2024 – no notes ● William Thomson, AVEC Evaluation Technical Economic Feasibility Thomson ● Mari Shirazi, ACEP Integration of inverter-based resources into microgrids Shirazi |
Challenges and Best Practices with Bulk Fuel (part 2) – ownership & business models Moderated by Katie Conway, Denali Commission ● Dean Maschner, AEA ● Shannon Oelkers, Integrity Environmental ● Mark Swenson, HDL HDL Presentation #2 – Agg Study ● Lynn Kenealy, DCRA ● Sarah Moore |
| 4:30 pm | Break and Shuttles begin | ||
| 5:00 pm | Reception sponsored by ACEP, Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum – 212 Wedgewood Drive | ||
Day 2: Thursday, October 3
| Thursday, October 3, 2024 | |||
| 7:30 am | Breakfast | ||
| 8:00 am |
PLENARY: Delivering Statewide Projects and Investments -Gold Ballroom Moderated by Crystal Enkvist, Alaska Power Association ● Jimmy Ord, AHFC 2024 AML Rural Energy Conference 10.4.24 – AHFC FINAL ord ● Dustin Madden, ANTHC Delivering projects statewide – ANTHC Madden ● Dave Messier, Tanana Chiefs Conference 2024_REC.Plenary Statewide Projects Messier |
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| 8:45 am | Break and Networking | ||
| Business & Utility Management-Gold Ballroom West | Technology & Infrastructure-Gold Ballroom East | Operations & Maintenance-Minto | |
| 9:00 am |
Learning from regional organizations delivering energy solutions Moderated by Katie Conway, Denali Commission ● Robert Venables, Southeast Conference REC 2024 regional energy solutions Robert Venables ● Ingemar Mathiasson, Northwest Arctic Borough Presentation2 – Mathiasson ● Jason Paskvan, Tanana Chiefs Conference ● Amanda Toerdal, Kawerak |
Energy Storage Moderated by Gary Hennigh, City of King Cove ● Vish Viswanathan, Pacific Northwest National Lab Vish Energy storage 9am ● Tom Lovas, Energy & Resources Economics TAL REC24 ERE Energy Storage Presentation Lovas ● Martin Miller, Coffman Engineers AK Rural Energy_Coffman BESS presentation Oct 2024 Miller ● Jess Johnson, Kodiak Electric Kodiak Electric Association_Rural Energy Conference J.Johnson ● William Thomson, AVEC AVEC Energy Storage Projects – Thomson |
Smart Building Energy Solutions for Rural Homes & Communities Moderated by Bruno Grunau, NREL ● Michael Liebner, AHFC BMON_overview Liebner ● Shelby Clem, RurAL CAP Rural Energy_RurAL CAP Wx Presentation Clem ● Mindy O’Neall, CCHRC ● Jamie Hansen, Information Insights |
| 10:15 am | Break and Networking | ||
| 10:30 am | Overcoming challenges of scale Moderated by Robert Venables, Southeast Conference ● Brian Hirsch, DeerStone ConsultingOvercoming Challenges of Scale – October2024 Hirsch ● Bill Stamm, AVEC Challange of Scale- REC 2024 Stamm ● Chris Cox, ARUC Presentation for AML 10.3.24 Overcoming challenges of scale Cox ● Jacob Powell, REAP REAP PIP Rural Energy Conference Slides – Powell |
Managing Allocation of Excess Renewables & Beneficiaries Moderated by Cady Lister, Southeast Conference ● Roderick Phillips, Puvurnaq Power Roderick Phillips Video ● Tom Atkinson, Kotzebue Electric 4Atkinson-AIEDA Meeting PP ● Dominique Pride, ACEP Managing Allocation of Excess Renewables & Beneficiaries_Dominique-Pride_REC_2024 ● Connie Fredenberg Managing allocation fredenberg |
Maximizing diesel genset efficiency and performance Moderated by Justin Tuomi, AEA ● Darren Westby, AVEC ● Jennifer Evridge, Statewide Machinery Diesel Efficiency Everidge
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| 12:00 pm |
PLENARY – State Policy and Funding Priorities -Gold Ballroom ● Andrew Jensen, Office of the Governor ● Ingemar Mathiasson, Northwest Arctic Borough ● Clay Koplin, Cordova Electric ● Jenn Miller, Renewable IPP |
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| 1:00 pm | Break and Networking | ||
| Business & Utility Management-Gold Ballroom West | Technology & Infrastructure-Gold Ballroom East | Operations & maintenance-Minto | |
| 1:30 pm |
Rural Utility Management – Getting the Fundamentals Right Moderated by Michael Rovito, APA (confirmed) ● Tom Atkinson, KEA 4Atkinson-AIEDA Meeting PP ● Travis Million, GVEA Rural Energy Conf – Getting Fundamentals Right Million ● Daisy Weinard, Ipnatchiaq |
Biomass system selection and maintenance considerations Moderated by Cady Lister, Southeast Conference ● Devany Pletnovich, Deerstone Consulting Plentovich REC 2024 Biomass Technology Presentation ● Pricilla Morris, USFS Rural Energy Conference-Priscilla Morris ● Scott Randall, Southeast Island School District Southeast Island School District ● Tim Kalke, SEGA SEGA_Biomass_10-3-24 Kalke
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Fuel Testing – Roundtable Discussion Sourcing, Testing, and Correcting ● Dan Smith, USDA-RD ● Walt Tague, Crowley RAEC 10.03.2024 Fuel Testing – Tague |
| 2:45 pm | Break and Networking | ||
| 3:15 pm |
Plenary – AEA Energy Dashboard and Statewide Survey -Gold Ballroom Justin Tuomi & Dean Maschner, Alaska Energy Authority ● Alaska Energy Authority will take us on a virtual tour of critical rural community infrastructure with a demonstration of their new reality capture data hub dashboard, an ArcGIS-based platform in which boots on the ground data collection is presented alongside 3D imagery of the individual facilities overlaid on a Google Earth view. To date AEA has catalogued in the dashboard 217 power generation facilities, 198 bulk fuel facilities, and 14 distribution systems with data collection still underway and the dashboard under ongoing refinement. This is a work in progress with exciting possibilities for remote assistance and training, funding assistance, and data utilization. |
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| 4:15 pm | Open Mic for Utility Operators – Listening Session | ||
| 5:30 pm | Reception with Regional Collaboration – Morris Thompson Cultural Center | ||
Day 3: Friday, October 4
| 7:30 am | Breakfast | ||
| 8:00 am |
PLENARY: Goal Setting – Coordination Across Sectors -Gold Ballroom Moderated by Nils Andreassen, Alaska Municipal League ● Francine Moreno, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium ● Dean Maschner, AEA ● Katherine Keith, Alaska DOT&PF ● Griffin Hagle-Forster, Association of Alaska Housing Authorities |
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| 8:45 am | Break and Networking | ||
| Business & Utility Management-Gold Ballroom West | Technology & Infrastructure-Gold Ballroom East | Operations & maintenance-Minto | |
| 9:00 am |
Community Energy Project Planning and Management Moderated by Tim Kalke, Galena ● Tashina Duttle, DeerStone Consulting ● Michael Rovito, Alaska Power Association ● John Haverlack, ACEP ● Dave Messier, Tanana Chiefs Conference |
Diesels Off – Keeping Powerhouse, Heat Loops, & Gensets Warm ● Moderated by Ed Dellamary, Tanana Chiefs Conference ● Ingemar Mathiasson, Northwest Arctic Borough ● Darren Westby, AVEC ● Jonathan Salmon, Igiugig Village Council
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Developing & Implementing a Community Benefits Plan Moderated by DOE, Office of Energy Justice & Equity ● Monika Roy, DOE Energy Justice Fellow ● Lauren Ross, Deputy Director, Energy Justice and Policy, DOE ● Yasmin Yacoby, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of Energy Justice and Equity
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| 10:15 am | Break and Networking | ||
| 10:30 am |
Are you down with IPPs? Moderated by James Jensen, USDOE Office of Indian Energy ● Bill Stamm, AVEC ● Tim Kalke, SEGA ● Katya Karankevich, ANTHC ● Edwin Bifelt, Alaska Native Renewables ● Ed Dellamary, Tanana Chiefs Conference |
Emerging Technologies Moderated by Ottar Mobley, Launch Alaska ● Dr. Hagar Zohar, Technology-to-Market, ARPA-E, DOE ● Ben Loeffler, ACEP ● Angelo Campus, Box Power ● Kelsey Franz, ORPC ● Paul McKinley, DOE, ACEP |
Utilizing Circuit Riders & Emergency Response Moderated by Erin Reinders, Alaska Municipal League ● Justin Tuomi, Alaska Energy Authority ● Bill Stamm, AVEC
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| 12:00 pm |
PLENARY LUNCH- Conference Wrap-Up: What did you hear, learn, or miss out on? ● Katie Conway, Denali Commission ● Robert Venables, Southeast Conference ● Jeremy Kasper, Alaska Center for Energy and Power ● Nils Andreassen, Alaska Municipal League |
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| 1:00 pm | Adjourn and Break | ||
| Post-Conference Work Sessions | |||
| 1:30 pm |
● EV Deployment in Rural Alaska ● Climate Pollution Reduction Comprehensive Planning – DEC and AML ● Solar for All ● Framework for Resilient Building Codes – Hosted by AHFC ● Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP) Introduction: The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) is kicking off the Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership and would like to introduce it to Alaskan communities. The activities implemented though C-MAP will emphasize inclusive partnerships, long-term effective community-based capacity building, and funding provided to communities interested in improving the operation and performance of microgrid energy systems. Focusing within underserved and Indigenous communities, C-MAP plans to promote wide collaboration while supporting learning opportunities between and within communities that are using microgrids for general power needs or to support long-term energy system resiliency. This workshop will provide community representatives with an introduction to this new program, allow more detailed discussions of advances in microgrid system technology and help shape the services that will be provided through the Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership.
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