February ended with both good news and very sad news for the Alaskan energy community.

We are sorry to report that Dan Salmon, our Energy Advisory Committee member from Igiugig died of injuries received in a plane crash near Tyonek on February 28th. He was the pilot and only occupant of the plane. Here is the link to his obituary. Dan was a very successful and articulate advocate for Igiugig and the Lake & Penn region, and we will miss his input to the committee.

On a happier note, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) was selected as the Wind Cooperative of the Year for 2007! This award is given annually by the US Department of Energy in partnership with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. AVEC was recognized for leadership, demonstrated success and innovation in its wind power program. Two of AVEC 's projects cited in the award were Toksook Bay and Kasigluk, where their Northwind 100/20 wind turbines are supplying up to 25% of the two communities ' annual electric power needs.

The Commissioners in February recommended no changes to the our Draft Work Plan for FY8: Funding for the energy program is $10 million for legacy bulk fuel and power upgrades (from the statewide deficiency lists), up to $9 million for alternative renewable energy projects, about $4 million from the TAPL funds which can only be spent on bulk fuel, and an undetermined amount from USDA Rural Utility Service high energy cost grant funds. Although this is less than we have had available in recent years, we will continue our priority energy projects at a slightly slower pace, while increasing our role in alternative renewable energy projects.

The two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) we issued jointly with the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) closed in February with a very high level of interest. The fifth Energy Cost Reduction RFP received 24 proposals for over $11 million in projects. The Alternative Renewable Energy RFP received an amazing 96 proposals for both pre-construction and construction projects! The initial review of the proposals to determine if they meet the criteria will be completed the first week of March. Qualifying proposals will then be evaluated on both technical and economics. A list of the proposals received and the evaluation procedures are available on the AEA website. The first grants under this new program should be made by late May. Because there was such great interest in this RFP, and we received additional funding for alternative-renewable energy projects, we expect to issue a similar RFP again this year.

Two other energy program opportunities close this month: USDA-Rural Utilities Service has announced another funding opportunity for High Energy Cost grants. There is $6.8 million available for competitive grants under this Notice of Funds Available (NOFA), with proposals due by March 28th. You can find more information and the applications at RUS NOFA. The State of Alaska Department of Commerce Community and Economic Development (DCCED) has an RFP for Bulk Fuel and Electric Utility Business Training, which also closes on March 28th. This RFP can be found here.

This month's Denali Commission Solid Waste Program project developments are as follows:

• Hooper Bay - Work on the equipment repair project is essentially complete.
• Bethel - Equipment purchase project has been completed.  Project savings of approximately $5,900 will be recycled in the program.
• Valley Recycling - A new electric forklift arrived in Anchorage on June 25, 2008 and will be delivered to Palmer on July 1.
• Shishmaref - Signs, totes, and burn units are in transit via barge.
• Tanana - Fencing for the landfill is at barge yard.
• Tyonek - The Kenai Peninsula borough has approved a proposed project plan and issued 'request for quote' to Tyonek for work to be performed.
• Selawik - Dozer parts and tools currently in transit, via barge and US mail.
• Nightmute - To date, approximately 850 hours of clean-up labor has been performed burning, separating, and bagging solid waste.
• Akiachak, Nunapitchuk, and New Stuyahok burn unit manufacture for those projects is on target for August.

Youth Initiatives

The Denali Youth Initiative recently awarded nearly $900,000 in youth projects around the State. Please see attachment on the training program documents for a complete list of project.

Denali Training Fund (DTF)

The Denali Commission recently selected 12 DTF projects from our FY07 funding. A complete list of those projects will be made available on this page by April 11, 2008.

Through our administrative partner, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Denali Commission will be issuing another Request for Application (RGA) for our Denali Training Fund on April 14, 2008. Please see the following state link for the RGA:

http://notes4.state.ak.us/pn/pubnotic.nsf/cc52605f7c156e7a8925672a0060a91b/3007c144b8c29884892573c50074e9b9?OpenDocument

The deadline for proposals is May16, 2008.

The Denali Commission recently issued awards to the following agencies from our FY07 funding:

• Alaska Works Partnership was awarded $591,723.00 to conduct construction, maintenance and operation training, pipeline training and apprenticeship support services for rural Alaskans. For more information please contact Mike Andrew at (907) 569-4711. http://www.alaskaworks.org/

• University of Alaska was awarded $812,400.00 to develop the allied health workforce for rural Alaskans. The curricular development includes, CHAP, Medical Office/Health Care Reimbursement, Dental Assisting careers, Pharmacy careers, Radiologic careers, Medical Lab career, Personal Care Attendants and Certified Nursing Assistants. If you live in rural Alaska, look for these distant delivered careers. For more information please contact Mia Oxley at (907) 786-4853. http://www.uaf.edu/crcdhealth/

• Associated General Contractors of Alaska was awarded $250,000.00 to implement construction pathways in High Schools across Alaska. If you would like construction pathways made available in your schools district, call Bob Cress at (907) 561-5354. http://www.agcak.org/akancasn/doc.nsf/

• First Alaskans Institute was awarded $230,000.00 for a leadership development program. This is a paid internship for rural Alaskans to work at various professional settings through the summer months. They are currently recruiting for the summer 2008 season. For more information call Rick Mueller at (907) 677-1706. http://www.firstalaskans.org/

KOLIGANEK ENERGY EFFICIENT CLINIC PROVES SUCCESSFUL

The new clinic in Koliganek, Alaska has found the trick to reducing its monthly energy bill. A heat exchanger was installed in the electric power plant to absorb heat from the water used to cool the engines that drive the generators. Insulated pipe was laid 270 feet from the electric plant to the clinic to carry the water heated by the power plant heat exchanger to the clinic heat exchanger. The clinic heat exchanger uses the waste heat from the power plant to heat the water that circulates in the Clinic heating system. As of  January 2008 the fuel tank showed no measurable fuel usage from the clinic opening since October 2007.

This system was feasible at Koliganek because the clinic was relatively close to the power plant and there were no other users of the waste heat. In principal the heating costs were reduced by increasing the initial cost of construction which came in at $57,000. The Commission congratulates the community of Koliganek and the innovation of its partners at ANTHC for this success story. We look forward to replicating this model in other communities with the goal of reducing energy costs in rural Alaska.

PROGAM BACKGROUND AND PROCESS

Clinic Conceptual Planning: All clinic projects that could eventually be eligible for Denali Commission construction funding may participate in the conceptual planning phase. Technical Assistance (TA) advisors are assigned to each project to assist in the business plan development process and to complete the site plan checklist.  In some cases the Denali Commission may consider small funding requests to assist communities in addressing the business plan or site plan requirements. To begin the conceptual planning process or to request a TA or planning funds, contact the Denali Commission Health Facilities Program Manager.

Please be sure that your technical assistance advisor (TA) has reviewed the final business plan prior to submission. Business plans that have not been reviewed by the TA will not be forwarded to the review committee.

Clinic Design: Eligibility for design requires an approved business plan and site plan checklist and a feasible strategy for design completion and acquiring cost share match.

Clinic Construction: Eligibility for construction funding requires an approved business plan, approved site plan checklist, a final design (100% stamped drawings), a final budget (based on final design estimates), documentation of cost share match to fully fund the project and the ability to proceed to construction in a timely manner.

Other Than Primary Care The Denali Commission recognizes the primary care program as its priority focus area, however there is a need to also support a full continuum of health and social service facilities on a statewide basis. The Other Than Primary Care program on an annual basis identifies program focus areas outside the clinic program as part of a statewide continuum. The selected FY07 program areas were EMS equipment/Code Blue, Primary Care in Hospitals (managed by the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, ASHNHA) and Behavioral Health (Bring The Kids Home).

General Program Information: Interested applicants should contact the Health Facilities Program Manager, Denali Daniels at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for specific information on applying for funding or engaging in the Denali Commission process.

Unfortunately, the Denali Commission is only able to fund the Teacher Housing Program for $1 million in FY08, compared to $5 million in previous years.  This difficult decision to cut the Teacher Housing Program, due to a reduction in our  federal base funding,  was made at the quarterly meeting in Juneau on February 28, 2008.

That being said however, the Teacher, Health Professional, and Public Safety Grant Program process will begin  this summer again with  our partner, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC).   If you would like more information about the upcoming grant program, please contact James Wiedle at Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call him at 907-330-8325.

If you have any additional questions. I can be reached at 271-5232 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Economic Development Advisory Committee

The committee met here in Anchorage on March 19th, 2008 at the offices of the Chugach Regional Corporation.   Chairman of the Chugach Alaska board Sheri Buretta presented to the group on the economic development efforts within their region of the State.   The committee members also received a report on the recent completion of the VIBES - Viable Small Business Enterprises for Rural Alaska - report by Christi Bell and Jane Angvik.   An interesting finding was that community cohesion plays a large role in the success of small business in Rural Alaska no matter the size of the community.   At my request Dr. Tony Nakazawa, professor of economics at UAF, and former member of the boundary commission presented to the group the various and inconsistent complex layers of governance that currently exists within the State.   The regions identified as being more cohesive were the Southeast region and the Bering Straits region.   The next meeting date was set for May 6th and June 10th, with agenda items of reviewing the submitted Letters of Interest and a review of policies at the Denali Commission.

Letter of Interest

68 letters of interest in economic development of rural economies were submitted during the open call.   The committee membership is reviewing the submitted ideas and will be addressing them at their next meeting to include setting up criteria for future project selection by a separate selection committee.   Thank you to everyone for submitting your ideas and expect more to come on the topic.

April brings renewed focus on green environmental issues to many agencies and individuals around the country. Earth Day will be celebrated on April 22nd this year, so it is a good time to think about how we can use our resources efficiently around our offices, and think about social and environmental responsibility. All this on top of doing our jobs and thinking about economic sustainability? You bet! Even if you don 't have the 'pull ' around your office to make organizational changes, you can take steps on your own that will have impact and you may serve as a model to others.

For example, reduce paper waste by using e-mail and electronic copies more effectively. Don 't print out copies of documents or e-mails unless you must, and then try to use double sided copying. Tracking editing changes electronically makes it easier to capture multiple reviewers ' comments and compare versions. Use print-preview and spell-check to review documents before you print them. Re-use old forms or non-confidential printouts as scrap paper note pads. How about using regular, washable dishes instead of paper plates and plastic utensils? You may not be able to install more efficient lighting in your office, but you can turn off the lights when you are away from your desk for more than a few minutes, and put your computer in sleep mode. Tiny steps like these can help trigger a cultural change that multiplies your efforts! Finally, become an educated consumer: not every 'green ' technology or practice is appropriate for every case--especially in Alaskan communities. Many news articles and manufacturers focus on only a small slice of the overall picture. Try to find out about all sides of the story before you buy into it.

Alternative energy ideas continue to be of high interest across the state. We have been fielding a lot of phone calls from people looking for funding opportunities for projects, and there have been several news stories about successful and potential alternative energy projects (note the last paragraph above)! At the same time, we watch the state and federal budget proposals, legislation and conferences coming nearby so we know what is on the horizon. Check the Calendar of Upcoming Events in our monthly e-news section to keep abreast of some meeting dates and funding opportunities. Note, you have to actually open a monthly e-news letter from this link to access the calendar. You 'll find information this month on the DOE Tribal Energy Workshop and DOE Wind-Diesel conference at the end of April. The calendar lists some energy funding application deadlines coming up in May and June too. Finally, save the date for the next Rural Energy Conference, planned for September 16th through 18th in Girdwood this year. Think Spring!

BACKHAUL PROGRAM RECEIVES AWARD FROM HARVARD