Renewable Energy

The future belongs to renewable forms of energy. The price of wind and solar generation has dropped at an impressive rate and continues to drop nationally and globally. In Alaska, the economics of renewable energy is constrained by our small and far flung population, but it is charging ahead at the local, utility, and even the state level. The price of natural gas in Southcentral Alaska is steadily increasing despite the billions of dollars the state has spent to  incentivize Cook Inlet gas drilling.  We have a single supplier today and we need to diversify our energy portfolio if we want to keep electricity prices in check. A growing network of electric vehicle fast charging stations will soon make range anxiety with EVs a thing of the past. With new technologies come new opportunities for local jobs. One problem with EVs is that it can be hard to find local technicians for them. I would like to see young people have the opportunity to take specialty courses at the Kachemak Bay Campus or Kenai Peninsula Campus, or AVTEC to get the EV maintenance or renewable installation jobs.