ANCHORAGE, AK – This week, Mayor Ethan Berkowitz joins other mayors and governors across the country in recognizing National Clean Energy Week (NCEW), a week-long celebration of clean energy innovation and the important work being done in solar, wind, wave, hydropower, geothermal, natural gas, biomass, nuclear, carbon capture, storage, and waste-to-energy technologies. NCEW is dedicated to bipartisanship and brings together business leaders, advocates, policymakers, and trade associations from all parties and perspectives who are dedicated to advancing clean energy.
“Clean, locally produced energy creates local jobs and local businesses," said Mayor Berkowitz. “It gives us energy self-sufficiency in a time of uncertain global supply chains and is integral to our economic well-being and environmental responsibility."
Nationwide, clean energy workers account for more than 40 percent of America's energy workforce, according to the
Clean Jobs America 2020 report. In Alaska, as of 2019 there were 5,628 jobs supported by the industry in the areas of renewables, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, clean fuels, and grid and storage technologies. The Municipality of Anchorage has invested in a number of these technologies under Mayor Berkowitz's leadership, with project highlights listed at the end of this press release.
“The impacts of climate change are dramatic here in the North, and as a result, our economic profile is undergoing significant reconfiguration. Anchorage has led the way in reducing energy costs, expanding opportunities, and creating a climate action plan that maps out a strategy for resilience and responsibility," said Mayor Berkowitz.
This year, a key focus of NCEW is to promote the role that the clean energy industry plays in our local and national economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Investing in projects that create clean energy jobs will bolster our economy while continuing to drive down carbon emissions in Alaska and across the country.
Mara Kimmel, lead for resilience initiatives in the Mayor's Office, said, “As our city and state emerge from the financial impacts of COVID-19, it will be critical to our recovery to develop a workforce capable of meeting the needs of a 21st-century economy. Training Alaskans for clean energy jobs builds a solid economic path forward for our families."
For more information about National Clean Energy Week, visit the NCEW
website.
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Municipality of Anchorage Clean Energy Project Highlights:
About solar panels
The Municipality's 243 solar panels avoided over 110,000 pounds of carbon emissions and the equivalent of 5,718 gallons of gasoline in the last year. Fire Station 10 saw a 16% reduction in electricity costs compared to the previous year. The solar panels produced more energy than was used on-site 18 days this summer. The Municipality is working to install three more solar projects.
About electric vehicles
The Municipality will showcase the benefits of electric vehicles through a pilot deployment at the Department of Solid Waste Services (SWS). With funding assistance from the Department of Energy and the Alaska Energy Authority, SWS will deploy two heavy-duty electric garbage trucks for residential garbage and recycling collection, along with one electric box truck for cart deliveries. The vehicles will be charged using an innovative fast charging station with integrated energy storage, which will reduce the cost of electricity.
About the Property Assessed Clean Energy Program
The Municipality of Anchorage is the first local government in Alaska to work towards establishing a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program in Alaska. The PACE Program is an innovative financing program that enables owners of commercial and industrial properties to obtain low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy retrofits. PACE financing is intended to cover the full costs of eligible improvements, with little or no up-front out-of-pocket cost to the owner, and repayment made through assessments payments on the property.