Lessons Learned in Juneau

Sometimes it takes a crisis to get people to change their ways. That was definitely the case in Juneau this past April after an avalanche knocked out the city's inexpensive hydroelectric power.

It caused a serious energy crunch -- rates went through the roof, and a city-wide effort began to cut back on use. Since then the power has been restored and rates have gone back down, but are residents still conserving?

"I'm always cold," homeowner Stephanie Hall said. "Other people don't get as cold as I get, so I'll plug this in and it's got three speeds."

Hall has found a way to stay warm and conserve electricity -- a localized heater with a fan to direct the warmth. "It just takes the chill off," she said. Hall prides herself on being energy conscious, but says she is even more so nowadays after the avalanche.

The city's electric utility resorted to running on diesel, causing rates to quintuple -- from $.10 to more than $.50 per kilowatt-hour. "You're just like, ‘Oh my goodness! This just can't be happening,'" Hall said.

Gayle Wood with Alaska Electric Light and Power said that after the avalanche energy became the most talked about subject in the city. "People were afraid of what that bill was going to look like," she said. "Any grocery store line, the conversation had to do with, ‘What are you doing to conserve?' And people became very savvy about their energy use during this time."

Ratepayers powered down and made big changes to keep their electric bills from skyrocketing. "It did become kind of a game to see how low we could go, and I got pretty fanatical," Hall said. "This (a portable electric skillet) is 1,440 watts. I think a hairdryer is between 1,000 and 1,500 depending on the speed."

She gave up using appliances that she says waste electricity -- like her stove, dishwasher and clothes dryer.

"It was interesting to see what people were willing to give up and what people weren't," Hall said. "I had some friends say, ‘Well I'm not giving up my hairdryer, but I'll give up my radio in the morning.'"

Hall is one of many in the capital city who have continued to conserve, even though electric rates are back to normal.

Levi Read and his family live in a duplex that relies on electric heat. They've turned to a basic solution for light. "At night, the kids will be in bed and I'll light this candle and we'll turn the lights off and just read a book," Read said. To cut back on heating costs they turn down the thermostat and wear more clothes, halving the bill.

"It was something you had to do out of necessity because nobody can afford a $900 electricity bill," Read said. "I mean, that's my rent."

Businesses have continued to conserve as well.

"We basically turned most everything off at night, except for the pumps," said Mike Holloway of Mike's Airport Service. "The mechanics, they were complaining they had to use flashlights, but we did it." Mike's Airport Service has been in business for 27 years. The avalanche prompted Holloway to turn off, turn down, and unplug everything at night.

"It's going to save us a lot of money by unplugging ... at night when nobody's here," he said. Holloway says he is still hesitant about turning on the lights. "It's always in the back of our mind now because we found out that we could do with a lot less," he said.

By living with a lot less Holloway is now paying out a lot less. "Obviously we found that not only does it conserve energy, but it saves us a lot of money," he said.

Saving money is what prompted the conservation effort and those who have continued to keep it up say they've really saved.

For Hall, part of keeping her bills low became competitive to win the game amongst her friends who also have tried to cut back. "Oh man, I won," Hall said, laughing as she examined her bills. "They'd get theirs and go, ‘I don't even want to hear what yours is.'"

After the avalanche, Juneau set an example to the rest of the United States by cutting energy consumption by 30 percent. According to AEL&P, compared to data from this time last year ratepayers are still conserving at least 8 percent.


(Photographer: Carolyn Hall)