Solar Programs Coming to Disadvantaged Areas

Two Alaska organizations will share a 62.5 million dollar grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to bring solar to residents with low to moderate income in disadvantaged rural communities. 

Alaska Energy Authority, or AEA, and Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, or AHFC, will partner on the solar programs. Each organization will provide different energy services focused on rural communities.

AEA Executive Director Curtis Thayer says his organization will provide funding for community solar projects. Community solar allows residents who are unable to install rooftop solar to take advantage of renewable energy through subscriptions. Thayer says the solar energy is meant to help offset the amount of diesel used in generators, but won’t replace them. Battery energy storage systems will also be part of the projects.

Thayer says the two organizations are working on their plan for community roll-out. The EPA will disperse the funds by the end of September. Only communities with 40 percent or more of their population qualify as disadvantaged. Many of those are in rural Alaska, including Trapper Creek. 

Thayer says their initial focus is on communities that are not connected to power. However, he says they will evaluate the community needs through the application process and determine how to best disperse the funds.

AHFC Director of Research and Rural Development Jimmy Ord says their program will focus on providing rooftop solar for those communities.   

Ord says they will spend the first year of the five-year grant timeline to develop the plan for how the money will be provided to communities. He says they likely will work with local installers to evaluate applicant sites to determine if solar is a good fit and if the structure can support the panels.

A portion of the funding may also go toward financing in cases where the solar is not completely subsidized. This would enable residents to pay over time instead of as a lump sum if their project is not completely covered.

Ord says there will be a public application process and there will be public notice when the programs are available for communities and residents to apply.