(b) Northern Rural 

Communities (a) Statewide

Oil

83%

Gas

Gas 13%

53%

Oil

14%

Hydro

25%

Wind

2%

Wind

2%

Hydro

2%

Coal

6%

The US Arctic Research Commission coordinates the Arctic Renewable Energy Working Group 

(AREWG) to promote research on renewable and efficient energy systems in remote Arctic communities. Integration of renewable resources and supporting technologies into a community’s current power 

generation capacity has the potential to increase local employment and decrease air pollution, carbon 

footprint and, ideally, cost to consumers. Pushing the boundaries of energy efficiency and conservation 

are critical components of this effort. The AREWG is composed of Alaska-based energy experts familiar with the energy challenges facing remote villages. Many members have spent years working directly 

with rural communities. While the initial focus of this group is on remote Alaskan communities, the 

group intends to expand its scope to include circumpolar remote Arctic communities in the future.

Fossil fuels are by far the most common means of providing energy for heating, electricity, and transportation in remote Alaskan communities that are disconnected from a centralized power grid (Figure 1). 

In these communities, fuel cost burden is often voiced as the priority concern for rural residents. 

Indeed, a 2008 study showed that the estimated median share of income spent on rural home energy is 

12% and 47% for mid- and low-range income families, respectively, compared to 3.6% and 8.7% for the 

same income groups in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city1. The challenges of transporting fossil fuels to 

these remote communities, the high cost of fuel storage, the adverse effects of fossil fuel combustion on 

the environment and human health, and the price volatility of oil have resulted in the need to develop 

and advance renewable energy options and energy-efficient technologies and behaviors.

The impacts of climate change (e.g., thawing permafrost, erosion, flooding, ecosystem changes, threats 

to subsistence practices and resources) are disparately felt in communities throughout the Arctic. The 

continued burning of fossil fuels, though minor at the village scale as compared to industrialized areas, 

will amplify these impacts, and provides additional incentive to reduce the dependence of remote 

Alaskan communities on oil as a primary power generation source (Figure 1b). 

FIGURE 1. Alaska power generation by source for 2013. 

Note that the Northern Rural Communities pie chart 

excludes the Southeast, Kodiak, Copper River/Chugach, 

and Railbelt AEA Energy Regions. Data provided by 

Alaska Energy Authority (AEA)

FOCUS AREAS

The working group will focus on 

the following topics with respect 

to remote Arctic communities:

• New options for home heating 

and electricity aimed at increasing efficiency/use of renewable 

energy and reducing heating oil 

consumption

• Storage of energy produced by 

renewables, with particular focus 

on improved battery technology

• Indirect community benefits of 

renewable and efficient energy 

use that do not get figured into 

typical renewable energy cost/

benefit analyses

• Increasing potential for industry 

investment in remote renewable 

energy projects (decreasing 

uncertainty by identifying and 

mitigating risk)

The group’s mission is to benefit Arctic communities by identifying and addressing 

critical renewable energy and energy efficiency research needs.

1 Saylor, B., S. Haley, and N. Szymoniak. 2008. Estimated Household Costs For Home Energy Use, ISER, May 2008, 10 pp., http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Publications/webnote/

LLFuelcostupdatefinal.pdf.

AREWG

Arctic Renewable Energy Working Group
Energy efficiency and well-maintained diesel power generation are essential to stable heat and electric energy use on isolated grids in remote communities. However, 

dependence on fossil fuels can be minimized through both efficiency and conservation practices and integration of renewable resources (e.g., biomass, geothermal, 

hydro, solar, wave/tidal, wind) with well-maintained diesel systems. 

Currently, the remoteness and limited accessibility of these isolated communities 

pose a significant financial challenge to the goal of integrating renewable energy 

sources into their energy source portfolio. However, when viewed over the long term, 

considering the potential for advances in and reduced costs of technology, renewable 

resources may play a “key role in providing a local, clean, and inexhaustible energy”2

source. Microgrid advances and fuel switching technologies (between fossil fuels and 

renewable sources), such as enhanced battery storage capacity, are considered important steps toward expanding the use of renewable energy sources in rural Alaska. 

Initial working group efforts will be concentrated on the heating needs of isolated 

Alaskan villages. To move forward with this effort, a heat-focused workshop was held 

in January 2016. Based on workshop discussions, a heat-related research plan will be 

developed for rural Alaska that focuses on reducing heating oil consumption, increasing energy efficiency, and integrating renewable energy. For more information on this 

working group and the heat-related research plan, see the working group web page at 

https://www.arctic.gov/arewg/index.html.

Improve energy eciency and 

explore the integration of 

renewable energy into village 

heating and electrical approaches

Make village-level investment in 

renewable energy less risky/more 

attractive to industry

Promote better understanding 

of the costs/benets of 

renewable energy approaches at 

the village level

(a) Alaska Statewide 

Benet Arctic 

communities by 

identifying and 

addressing critical 

research needs in 

renewable energy 

and energy 

eciency

FIGURE 2. The AREWG has 

identified three specific objectives as areas of focus.

AREWG MEMBERSHIP

R. Bensin

Bering Strait Development Company

F. Button 

Alaska Village Electric Cooperative

T. Duttle 

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

C. Eischens 

US Arctic Research Commission

A. Gravier 

US Department of Housing and Urban Development

B. Grunau 

Cold Climate Housing Research Center

E. Hanssen 

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

B. Hirsch 

Deer Stone Consulting

G. Holdmann 

Alaska Center for Energy and Power

J. Huff 

US Department of Agriculture – Rural Development

G. Kochanowski 

US Department of Energy

M. Kohler 

Alaska Village Electric Cooperative

C. Lister 

Alaska Energy Authority

D. Lockard 

Alaska Energy Authority

B. Mallot 

Alaska Federation of Natives

C. McConnell 

Renewable Energy Alaska Project

D. Pelunis-Messier 

Tanana Chiefs Conference

C. Rosa 

US Arctic Research Commission

C. Rose 

Renewable Energy Alaska Project

S. Waterman 

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation

T. Wolf 

Denali Commission

Did you know?

In rural Alaskan communities, almost 90% of total 

residential energy use is for home heating.3

2 Alaska Energy Authority & Renewable Energy Alaska Project. 2016. Renewable Energy Atlas of Alaska: A Guide to Alaska’s Clean Local and Inexhaustible Energy Resources,19 pp, 

http://alaskarenewableenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/RenewableEnergy-Atlas-of-Alaska-2016April.pdf.

3 WHPacific with Brian Saylor and Associates, CTG Energetics and Craciun Research Group. 2012. Alaska Energy Authority End Use Study, 151 pp. http://www.akenergyauthority.org/

Content/Efficiency/EndUse/Documents/AlaskaEndUseStudy2012.pdf.