Sitka Rocks!
Setting a High Bar for Energy Planning
Sitka Group
Setting a high bar for energy planning
Sitka, Alaska is not taking this energy crisis laying down. Already, the City and Borough of Sitka has:
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Endorsed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and its goal of meeting Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
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Created a municipal Climate Action Plan Task Force to recommend greenhouse gas emissions reductions measures and have
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Worked closely with their electric department to dramatically reduce their energy usage city-wide.
After an initial study, they found that their baseline greenhouse gas emissions were 3,732 tons of greenhouse gases – 2,981 tons emitted through heating oil for municipal buildings and 550 tons from municipal vehicle fleet. The Sitka Borough Assembly recently passed a resolution to reduce Sitka’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 2003 levels by 2020.
By reducing their greenhouse gas emissions they will not only be tackling climate change but helping citizens and the municipality to save money. For example, last year the City of Sitka added interruptible electric heating to Blatchley Middle School – the savings…an unbelievable reduction of 385 tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to $170,000 in savings. 385 tons is 10% of the City’s carbon dioxide emissions so you can see that these types of projects could really add up.
Much of the work that Sitka is doing can be done in communities across Alaska. They are reducing the energy they use through efficiency and weatherization and finding renewable sources of energy to allow them to use diesel only as an emergency back-up. Because of the availability of low-cost hydro they are also converting heating and transportation to electricity to lessen their consumption of fossil fuels. Check out some of the great resources they have put together.
