Two Alaska organizations will share a $62.5 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to convey photo voltaic to low- to moderate-income residents in poor rural communities.
The Alaska Energy Authority, or AEA, and the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, or AHFC, will collaborate on photo voltaic packages. Each group will present totally different vitality companies centered on rural communities.
AEA Executive Director Curtis Thayer says his group will present funding for neighborhood photo voltaic tasks. The photo voltaic neighborhood permits residents who can not set up rooftop photo voltaic to benefit from renewable vitality by way of subscriptions. Thayer mentioned photo voltaic vitality is meant to assist offset the quantity of diesel utilized by turbines, however not change it. Battery vitality storage programs may even be a part of the tasks.
Thayer mentioned each organizations are engaged on their plan for a neighborhood rollout. The EPA will distribute the funds by the top of September. Only communities with 40 p.c or extra of their inhabitants qualify as deprived. Many of those are in rural Alaska, together with Trapper Creek.
Thayer mentioned their preliminary focus will likely be on communities that aren’t linked to energy. However, he says they are going to assess the wants of the neighborhood by way of the appliance course of and decide how finest to disperse the funds.
AHFC Director of Research and Rural Development Jimmy Ord mentioned that their program will deal with offering rooftop photo voltaic for these communities.
Ord says they are going to spend the primary 12 months of the five-year grant timeline growing a plan for the way the cash will likely be delivered to communities. He says they are going to possible work with native installers to judge applicant websites to find out if the photo voltaic is sweet and if the construction can help the panels.
A portion of the funding may also go in direction of financing circumstances the place photo voltaic just isn’t absolutely sponsored. This allows residents to pay over time as an alternative of a lump sum if their venture just isn’t absolutely lined.
Ord mentioned there will likely be a public utility course of and there will likely be public discover when packages can be found for communities and residents to use.
