energy

Dr. Jennifer Schmidt and Dr. Brett Watson, faculty at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), have been named to tenure-track positions in the College of Business and Public Policy (CBPP), where ISER is located. They will continue their research at ISER and will teach courses within CBPP’s Departments of Economics and Public Policy and Administration (MPPA).

Researchers with ISER study a number of important topics related to education, including what the state spends per pupil and how it invests in school facilities. Two legislative briefs from 2021 analyzed the cost for school districts in providing basic but critical needs: internet access and energy.

Understanding the acceptance and perceptions of renewable energy is key to facilitating their sustainable development in northern communities say researchers Jennifer Schmidt and Amanda Byrd. Alaskans in rural areas are faced with a number of challenges, including increasing costs for energy and imported foods into their remote communities. Many residents rely on subsistence foods as part of their culture, but also to avoid high prices in the local store. Communities have begun turning to renewable energy to make energy more affordable as well. Schmidt and Byrd examined the connection between renewable energy and subsistence activities in a new paper.

How did we get here? The Alaska economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector both in terms of private sector jobs and government funding. Since the rapid decline in oil prices, it has experienced a prolonged recession with declines in employment across most sectors. Before the end of 2014, oil prices were elevated for a long period of time when the price exceeded 100 dollars for multiple months. However, starting June 2014, oil prices experienced a deep drop averaging only $54.26 in the 4 years since. This is much lower than the $84.47 they averaged between 2006 and July 2014. While oil prices started declining in June of 2014, the first month of negative employment growth did not occur until October 2015. The state has essentially lost jobs in every month since that initial decline. This has also resulted in a precipitous drop in government revenues, which has forced the state to use savings to fill the fiscal gap. To gain perspective on the depth and severity of the Alaska experience, we attempt to compare the recessions across states and understand the features of the states which fared best and worst.

The state is in the midst of its longest recession. A new analysis by Mouhcine Guettabi, an associate professor of economics at ISER, analyzes how the recent decline in oil prices has affected the overall Alaska economy and its individual sectors, compares the Alaska recession to that of other energy-dependent states, and estimates the long run relationship between oil prices and employment growth.

Around the world, there is growing interest in decentralized sources of energy production and distribution. Costs of solar, wind, and energy-efficiency technologies have also been dropping, making them attractive alternatives to fossil fuels. But those changes disrupt the business model of utilities and present unique challenges and opportunities.

Martin Boucher, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan, will talk about his research on socio-technical energy transitions and discuss his preliminary thoughts about his work-in-progress, comparing transitions in three Northern cities: Saskatoon in Canada, Lulea in Sweden, and Anchorage.

When: Tuesday, May 22, 12 to 1

The Alaska Energy Data Gateway is an online database that UAF's Alaska Center for Energy and Power, ISER, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory established several years ago, to give communities across Alaska a broad range of data they can use as they develop and improve their energy systems.

Now, the gateway has had a major upgrade. Users can search by Alaska community for information to help them determine whether specific communities have the financial and technical capacities—and the skilled people—they need to develop sustainable energy systems. A new interactive search tool also makes it easier to find information from across the state. To learn more, check out the press release (PDF, 1MB) or visit the gateway at https://akenergygateway.alaska.edu/.

Alaska households on average use more energy—and spend more for it—than households nationwide. But making houses more energy-efficient can reduce both how much energy Alaskans use and how much they spend for it. Also, making houses more energy-efficient may increase their sales price, if the energy savings are capitalized into the value of the houses.

Dominique Pride, a postdoctoral fellow at UAF's Alaska Center for Energy and Power, will talk about the results of two studies investigating the relationship between energy efficiency and single-family home prices in the Anchorage real estate market.

We apologize that Dominique Pride's lunchtime talk did not live-stream as we had planned. A similar presentation she did, discussing her research on valuing energy-efficiency in the Anchorage residential market, is available in its place.

Sponsored by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, ISER, and The Nature Conservancy

The Municipality of Anchorage asked UAF's Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) to develop a climate action plan and an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions for Anchorage. Those documents will be included in a broad resilience initiative the city is currently working on. ACEP—in partnership with ISER and The Nature Conservancy—hired Jacob Shercliffe as a summer intern, to draft the two documents.

Jacob Shercliffe is an economics student at UAA. The staffs of ACEP, ISER, and The Nature Conservancy advised him as he drafted the action plan and the emissions inventory. Now he is ready to deliver the draft documents to the city, which will release them for public comment in October. In his lunchtime talk, Jacob will describe how he created the two documents and the progress he made. He'll also talk about how Anchorage residents can get involved in determining how the city deals with climate change.

When: Friday, August 18, 12 to 1 p.m.
Where: ISER Conference Room, Third Floor, 1901 Bragaw Street, Suite 301

Note: This talk will not be live streamed or recorded.

The Alaska Energy Data Gateway is an online database that ISER, the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at UAF, and other partner organizations established in 2011, to provide communities across Alaska with data they can use as they develop and improve their energy systems. Information in the database comes from many sources, can be downloaded in various file formats, and is mostly at the community level.

This summer Rachael Teter, an intern sponsored by First Alaskans Institute, has been working at ISER, updating and expanding the information available in the database. Kyle Borash, ISER's computer programmer, is developing an interactive map that will allow users to see at a glance what kinds of information are available for individual communities. That map will be launched on the data gateway in September. Join us at ISER to hear Rachael Teter and Kyle Borash discuss their work on the data gateway.

Download the presentation (PDF, 1.3MB)