Village of Aniak – 2017 Project

NOTE: Project pages are being updated regularly to reflect changes, if any; however, some of the information may be dated.

Summary

The Village of Aniak will establish baseline energy use in tribal community buildings to set energy efficiency improvement goals as well as provide a benchmark for evaluating future efforts. The end product will be an Energy Action Plan that prioritizes actions to be taken and establishes a timeline for implementation.

The Village of Aniak is a federally recognized tribe located on the Kuskokwim River in western Alaska. Today, Aniak is the largest community in the area and is a service and transportation hub for the surrounding region. The population of Aniak is 532, and 72% are Alaska Natives, Yup’ik Eskimo, and Tanaina Athabascan.

The Village of Aniak has aging infrastructure, poorly insulated homes, and staggering energy costs in a harsh, subarctic environment. The Tribe has not had significant previous work completed except for an audit in 2012 of the Aniak Junior/Senior High School. The proposed project will establish baseline energy use in our tribal buildings for setting energy efficiency improvement goals as well as providing a comparison point for evaluating future efforts. The end product will be an Energy Action Plan that prioritizes the actions to be taken and establishes a timeline for implementation. The project integrates into the long-term energy goals and vision of the Village of Aniak.

The project goal of the Village of Aniak is to reduce and stabilize energy costs in tribal buildings used by the entire community by setting energy efficiency improvement goals. The project will result in an Energy Action Plan that will lead to the development and deployment of strategic energy solutions that will build knowledge and the skills necessary to implement a successful energy solution in Aniak. The focus of the project will include the Community Hall, Tribal Office Building, and the Public Safety Building, as well as the Kuskokwim Native Association Buildings.

The objectives and steps of this project are:

1. Initiate building monitoring and onsite assessment
2. Develop a data plan
3. Establish initial meeting between Village of Aniak Traditional Council (building owners) and the project manager and energy auditor
4. Select a baseline year
5. Collect baseline energy data
6. Survey energy use and identify significant energy users
7. Develop an Energy Action Plan, maintenance plan, and training opportunities
8. Attend final meeting between Village of Aniak Traditional Council and the project manager and energy auditor.

The project will establish baseline energy use in tribal community buildings for setting energy efficiency improvement goals as well as providing a comparison point for evaluating future efforts. The project will measure energy use and energy intensity at a determined level of detail and will establish a benchmark for future comparison.

The Village of Aniak is located on the Kuskokwim River in western Alaska, 317 miles west of Anchorage. Aniak is a remote and isolated community accessible by plane year round and by boat when the river is free of ice. The Kuskokwim River is ice-free from mid-June through October, when barges bring in supplies and fuel. Aniak is surrounded by rolling hills, tundra, and boreal forest. People live a traditional subsistence lifestyle, with hunting and fishing being an integral part of the Village. This project will empower the Tribe with energy-efficient, safe, and comfortable buildings.

The project is complete. For additional details, see the final report.

The project was competitively selected under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Fiscal Year 2016 funding opportunity announcement “First Steps Toward Developing Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency on Tribal Lands – 2016” (DE-FOA-0001621) and started in September 2017.

The November 2017 and December 2018 project status report provides more information.