Sitka is working with the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to chart a path toward net-zero emissions by 2050, tapping federal expertise the small Southeast Alaska community could not access on its own.

The partnership, through the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project, provides technical assistance at no cost to evaluate wind, geothermal, and additional hydropower as economically viable generation options. The collaboration targets 50 percent emissions reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 while keeping rates affordable and avoiding reliance on diesel generators.

The Department of Energy selected Sitka for technical assistance under ETIPP, a program managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that connects remote communities with national lab expertise. Sitka presented the partnership scope to the Assembly in December 2022, outlining plans to assess renewables and modernize the grid while minimizing diesel reliance and rate impacts.

"Going to the best science, we have to reduce our emissions by 50% by 2030 and be net zero by 2050," a utility representative said. "We cannot just do that without the other side of making sure that we are growing our capacity, making sure that we are doing everything we can, finding more sources of generation so that in 10 years we are not running out of power and having to burn diesels."

Sitka currently relies on hydropower from Blue Lake and Green Lake, which keeps rates relatively low compared to diesel-dependent communities in Southeast Alaska. "A lot of the communities that are still on diesel power in Southeast Alaska have extremely high rates, whereas Sitka's is relatively affordable," one speaker said. But climate change threatens that generating capacity. "There are unknowns with climate change and how climate change is going to impact Sitka. I worry about the future generating capacity of the dam," the speaker said. "There was some low rain years and we did have to run the generators and then people had those fuel surcharges added to their bills."

National labs are building a model that mimics Sitka's electrical system to test theoretical future renewable sources. "We are starting to add the theoretical future wind, geothermal, other resources, additional hydro into that system," one speaker said. The goal is to identify which resources are economically sound and can deliver reliable energy at rates ratepayers can sustain.

Utility planning requires looking decades ahead. "As a utility, we need to be looking at least 10 to 20 years out and really more 30 to 40 years out to understand the direction we are going, what capacity we have to build in for the future," the utility representative said. "And that is part of why we reached out to Department of Energy, DOE, and the National Labs for this technical assistance."