As members of electric co-ops, we have extraordinary power to shape our energy system. As Alaskans, we have extraordinary reasons to elect better leadership: complacent co-op directors are sleepwalking us into a costly and stagnant future. Between next month and April 2026, Homer Electric Association will rely on what is practically a Potemkin...
One month from now, on March 28, everyone who pays an electric bill on the western Kenai Peninsula will get their ballots to elect leaders for the Homer Electric Association (HEA). You will hold in your hands (or on your phone/computer, if you vote online) a chance to shape our energy and climate future. Use it wisely! HEA is led by nine...
The North Slope...
The Missed Milestone for Homer Electric Association — Ben Boettger 2025 would have been a milestone for Homer Electric Association. Under the renewable energy goal that HEA's directors set four years ago, it aimed to be 50% renewable by this December. Meeting this ambitious goal would have been hard and frankly unlikely. HEA was (and is still...
Our Modern Lives Demand Energy – So We Must Demand Energy We Can Live With — Ben Boettger For about 60 years, natural gas extracted in and around Cook Inlet has provided most of our heat and nearly all our electricity. The gasoline in our cars and planes is produced by the refinery in Nikiski, which primarily uses crude from Cook Inlet, as well...
Inletkeeper Supports Raising Net Metering Cap As the Regulatory Commission of Alaska decides whether utilities should be required to connect more member-owned solar installations through net metering, Inletkeeper is highlighting the value of letting members invest in their own energy to conserve Cook Inlet gas, hedge against its rising price, and...
Climate change can be a lonely and alienating issue. But solving it is a team sport. There's literally nothing you can do alone that will reach the scale of the problem. Even the most climate-friendly individual choices make a difference only when many people are informed and inspired to adopt them. Our climate impacts come from using the systems...
HEA Board Approves Contract for State's Largest Solar Farm — Ben Boettger On August 13 the Homer Electric Association (HEA) board unanimously approved two measures in a single resolution: to buy the power from the planned Puppy Dog Lake solar farm – to be built in Nikiski by the Anchorage-based developer Renewable Independent Power Producer...
In a deliberative democracy, ideas that may start off rough have a chance to be polished and cleaned on the way to becoming policy. In legislative hearings, bills are scrutinized from many angles by many stakeholders. Although the process can be frustrating to watch, it is one of the strengths of our government. Senate Bill 101, Renewable...
Homer Electric Association's directors have abandoned the co-op's goal of becoming 50% renewable by 2025. At their Dec. 12 meeting, board members voted 6-3 to rescind the renewable goal and subsequently approved a new policy for HEA to "to encourage future development of Cook Inlet gas resources wherever feasible," with efforts that "will include...
