Welcome to the 2024 Rural Energy Conference

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

·        Doyon

·        Chancellor Dan White, University of Alaska Fairbanks

The importance of energy security, affordability, and reliability for rural Alaska community resilience

o    

Renewable Integration in Rural Alaska: Inspirational Case Studies

Moderated by Bill Stamm, AVEC

·        Tim Kalke, Sustainable Energy Galena Alaska

·        Tom Atkinson, Kotzebue Electric Association

·        Clay Koplin, Cordova Electric

·        Peter Asmus, ACEP

11:30-1:00 pm

Lunch Plenary – Maximizing Federal Investments

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

·        Lauren Boldrick, EPA

·        Michael Kuca, DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations

Successful projects require specific skills – cultivating a rural Alaska energy workforce

Moderated by Annalise Klein, UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power

·        Bryan Uher, University of Alaska

·        Chris McConnell, REAP

·        Mari Selle, Alaska Workforce Alliance

Digitizing utilities: Data Monitoring and Analysis

Moderated by TBD

·        Clay Koplin, Cordova Electric

·        Dayne Broderson, ACEP

·        John Venables, EPC

·        Aimie Survant, AVEC

Challenges and Best Practices with Bulk Fuel (part 1) – operations, maintenance & improvement 

Moderated by TBD, ACEP

·        Dean Maschner, AEA

·        Shannon Oelkers, Integrity Environmental

It’s not a grant but it might be almost as good: financing tools and strategies you can use to pay for projects

Moderated by Dave Messier, Tanana Chiefs Conference

·        Ed Davis, Native American Bank

·        Jodi Mitchell, Inside Passage Electric Cooperative

·        Ruben den Uyl, Northern Energy Capital

Renewable Integration: Evaluating Technical and Economic Feasibility

Moderated by Cady Lister, Southeast Conference

·        James Jensen, DOE Office of Indian Energy

·        Elan Edgerly, ANTHC

·        William Thomson, AVEC

Challenges and Best Practices with Bulk Fuel (part 2) – ownership & business models

Moderated by Katie Conway, Denali Commission

·        Mark Swenson, HDL

PLENARY: Delivering Statewide Projects and Investments

Moderated by Crystal Enkvist, Alaska Power Association

·        Jimmy Ord, AHFC

·        Dustin Madden, ANTHC

·        Dave Messier, Tanana Chiefs Conference

Learning from regional organizations delivering energy solutions

Moderated by Katie Conway, Denali Commission

·        Robert Venables, Southeast Conference

·        Ingemar Matthiasson, Northwest Arctic Borough

·        Jason Paskvan, Tanana Chiefs Conference

·        Amanda Toerdal, Kawerak

Energy Storage

Moderated by Gary Hennigh, City of King Cover

·        Vish Viswanathan, Pacific Northwest National Lab

·        Tom Lovas, Energy & Resources Economics

·        Coffman Engineers (invited)

·        Jess Johnson, Kodiak Electric

·        AVEC

Smart Building Energy Solutions for Rural Homes and Communities

Moderated by Bruno Grunau, NREL

·        Dean Maschner, AEA

·        Shelby Clem, RurAL CAP

·        Mindy O’Neill, CCHRC

·        Jamie Hansen, Information Insights

·        Brian Hirsch, DeerStone Consulting

·        Bill Stamm, AVEC

·        Chris Cox, ARUC

·        Jacob Powell, REAP

Managing Allocation of Excess Renewables and Beneficiaries

Moderated by Cady Lister, Southeast Conference

·        Roderick Phillips, Puvurnaq Power

·        George Hornberger, INN Electric Cooperative

·        Tom Atkinson, Kotzebue Electric

·        Dominique Pride, ACEP

·        Connie Fredenberg

Maximizing diesel genset efficiency and performance

Moderated by , IPEC

·        Justin Tuomi, AEA

·        Darren Westby, AVEC

·        Jennifer Evridge, Statewide Machinery

PLENARY – State and Federal Policy and Funding Priorities

Moderated by Nils Andreassen, Alaska Municipal League

Rural Utility Management – Getting the Fundamentals Right

Moderated by Michael Rovito, APA

·        Travis Million, GVEA

Biomass system selection and maintenance considerations

Moderated by Elan Edgerly, ANTHC

·        Devany Pletnovich, Deerstone Consulting

·        Pricilla Morris, USFS

·        Tim Kalke, SEGA

Fuel Testing

Moderated by Dan Smith, USDA-RD

·        Dean Maschner, AEA

·        Alaska Environmental Laboratory Services

·        Crowley

Plenary – AEA Energy Dashboard and Statewide Survey

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.

PLENARY: Goal Setting – Coordination Across Sectors

Moderated by Nils Andreassen, Alaska Municipal League

·        Francine Moreno, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

·        Dean Maschner, AEA

·        Griffin Hagle-Forster, Association of Alaska Housing Authorities

Community Energy Project Planning and Management

Moderated by Tim Kalke, Galena

·        Tashina Duttle, Deerstone Consulting

·        Michael Rovito, Alaska Power Association

Diesels Off – Keeping Powerhouse, Heat Loops, and Gensets Warm

Moderated by

·        Ed Dellamary, TCC (tentative)

·        Northwest Arctic Borough

·        AVEC

Developing and 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

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

Emerging Technologies 

Moderated by Ottar Mobley, Launch Alaska

·        Dr. Hagar Zohar, Technology-to-Market, ARPA-E, DOE

·        Ben Loeffler, ACEP

·        Angelo Campus, Box Power

Utilizing Circuit Riders and Emergency Response

Moderated by Claire Jaeger, FEMA Field Coordinator Infrastructure Systems

·        Justin Tuomi, Alaska Energy Authority

·        AVEC

·        ANTHC

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

·        EV Deployment in Rural Alaska

·        Climate Pollution Reduction Comprehensive Planning – DEC and AML

·        Solar for All –

·        Framework for Resilient Building Codes – Hosted by AHFC