Dispatch from Alaska: Energy Lessons from Life Off the Grid

“Where is Kotzebue?” I asked my seatmate Patty Eagan, an Alaska local, as our plane descended through the clouds. Everything below was white — ice and snow stretched in every direction.

“We’re here.” Patty smiled.

I looked again. Rising from the frozen coastline were wind turbines and solar panels — standing quietly against the Arctic sky.

Wow.

This was my arrival in Kotzebue — an isolated Alaskan community north of the Arctic Circle. I was traveling with 20 energy leaders from Alaska, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and mainland tribes as part of the Energy Leadership Accelerator (ELA) — a partnership between RMI and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The ELA’s goal in bringing together these leaders is to learn from one another and explore how renewable energy can reduce costs, strengthen resilience, and support community-driven solutions.

Together, we came to learn how Kotzebue became the first place in Alaska to adopt utility-scale wind energy in the 1990s, and how its leaders have continued to reduce their dependence on diesel ever since.

With no connection to a central grid and roads to other communities, Kotzebue long relied on summer barge deliveries of diesel for power generation — making electricity prices high and exposed to market volatility. Many remote, islanded communities face similar challenges. As one of the ELA participants, Bertha Prince, executive director of Nuvista Light and Electric Cooperative, said: “We all have something in common. We’re working toward reducing energy costs in these microgrid systems.”

Alaska has one of the highest adoption rates of microgrids in the world, and many remote communities have successfully integrated renewables. The Alaska Leadership Lab — a 10-day experiential learning component of ELA — was designed to help fellows contextualize their learning in real-world microgrid projects.

Fairbanks — Research That Serves Communities

Our journey began in Fairbanks. On our first morning, we gathered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the home of ACEP, a leader in northern energy research.

Outside, the Chena River was flowing again, with just a few sheets of ice still drifting along its surface. Inside, the room was filled with warmth, laughter, and stories. Fellows exchanged small gifts from home — homemade smoked salmon, Puerto Rican coffee, sea glass from Nome, and a book by an Indigenous author.

Culture — that’s the word that stayed with me. Culture shapes how each community responds to energy challenges. Real change happens when solutions are rooted in people, place, and culture. That first morning reminded me that the energy transition isn’t only about technology — it’s about people and relationships.

Later that day, ELA fellows visited ACEP’s Energy Technology Facility which houses their PSI lab, used for simulating remote Alaskan microgrids. Seeing the research infrastructure in action brought our conversations to life. As Jose Joel Garcia Alicea, a fellow from Puerto Rico, reflected, “Visiting the ACEP facility helped me understand the importance of research infrastructure in supporting Alaska’s energy transition. It was useful to see how microgrids and cold-climate research are being applied practically in communities.”

Kotzebue — Wind in the Arctic

Located along the Chukchi Sea above the Bering Strait, Kotzebue is a remote hub of energy innovation in Northwest Alaska, home to many of the Iñupiat people. From the research labs in Fairbanks to this snow-covered community above the Arctic Circle, we began to glimpse what resilience means for a community on the front lines of high energy costs, harsh weather, and logistical isolation.

Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA) started the wind energy revolution in Alaska in the 1990s. Brad Reeve, former manager of KEA was the man behind it. Before joining KEA, he managed a public radio station where communication is key, which he later applied to building support for wind energy. The vision began with a simple idea: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. To reduce reliance on diesel and lower costs, KEA sought to diversify its energy sources. With that vision — and strong support from the community — they pursued everything: applying for funding, piloting early wind projects, convincing the state and manufacturers, and testing again and again.

Learning from KEA’s story, I was inspired by their persistence and resourcefulness. Kotzebue showed me the beauty of smallness — how innovation can happen in the most remote places, led by communities who believe in a shared vision.

Before I left Kotzebue, I visited the Sulianich Art Center. There, I picked up the book A Thousand Trails Home by Seth Kantner. His stories of caribou and the lives interwoven with them captivated me. In Alaska’s remote communities, people are deeply connected to the world around them — the land, the climate, the animals. Here, energy and climate change are not abstract; they directly shape daily livelihood. Growing up in Chengdu, a big city in China, and now living in New York City, my journey in Alaska grounded me in a question: What does it mean to care for the shared home we all depend on?

Anchorage — Turning Learning into Action

Anchorage offered a moment to pause and reflect on what we learned in Fairbanks and Kotzebue. At the top of the Hotel Captain Cook, with the Chugach Mountains shining in the distance, fellows gathered for the Capstone Project Lab.

The ELA program is built around four ways of learning: learning online, learning from each other, learning through immersion, and learning by doing. The Capstone Projects are where fellows learn by doing — to apply what they’ve gained from virtual sessions and site visits  to an energy initiative in their community. RMI’s Energy Transition Academy has adopted these learning modalities in various global fellowships.

At the session, fellows explored diverse technologies, including solar, battery storage, geothermal, energy efficiency, microgrids, agrivoltaics, waste-to-energy, and EV battery recycling. Through gallery walks and consulting circles, they exchanged feedback, shared resources, and began prototyping their final deliverables.

As Bri Gabel, sustainability coordinator for the City and Borough of Sitka, shared, “It was great getting to see everyone’s project and chat with ACEP experts. I made more progress on my project with a few hours together than I had before, which gave me a much-needed motivation boost as I solved problems but also saw how my work can support others directly or indirectly.”

Cordova — Hydro in Southeast Alaska

Cordova was our final stop — a fishing town near the mouth of the Copper River, accessible only by plane or ferry. We flew in from Anchorage on a rainy day. The contrast with Kotzebue was striking: the snow had melted and we were surrounded by mountains, rivers, and glaciers.

Cordova Electric Cooperative (CEC) powers the town with a 100 percent underground electrical system, and 80 percent of its electricity comes from hydropower. That shift has reduced electricity rates by 19 percent through fuel savings over the years and attracted more seafood businesses to the region. For a small, islanded town with limited financial and technical resources, Cordova is an impressive model of long-term vision and local leadership.

In Cordova, the energy transition was initially driven by self-sufficiency. When severe coastal storms disrupt fuel barges and planes, they had to figure out how to keep the lights on. Renewables became the answer.

Cordova has also endured major disasters, the most recent one being the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, which devastated the land, local fisheries, and economies. At the Cordova Center Museum, I paused before photographs of birds and sea otters covered in oil. It’s hard to believe this happened just three decades ago. Today, Cordova’s fisheries are world-renowned, and its landscapes are restored — a clear demonstration of resilience.

Clay Koplin, CEO of CEC and former mayor of Cordova, guided us through the Power Creek hydro plant, battery storage systems, and a new heat pump installation — all part of Cordova’s commitment to reliable, affordable, and renewable energy. What struck me most was his agile, community-rooted approach to problem-solving: proactive planning, incremental innovation, and intentional partnerships.

They also focused heavily on workforce development. As Griffin Plush, sustainable energy coordinator at Alaska Municipal League, underlined that Cordova’s planning, “emphasized investment in workforce starting at high school and continuing through apprenticeship programs.” By engaging with young people and cultivating local talent, Cordova ensures its innovations can be maintained from within.

Twenty fellows, ten days, four places.

When I landed in Kotzebue, I didn’t fully understand what resilience meant in remote communities. From Fairbanks’s research labs to Kotzebue’s wind and solar, from Anchorage’s capstone applications to Cordova’s hydro, I learned that resilience is not just a word. It is collaborative action — rooted in people, place, and shared vision. In Kotzebue, it means diversifying power sources beyond diesel and pioneering wind through trial and error. In Cordova, it means keeping the lights on during coastal storms and safeguarding livelihoods tied to fishing. And I know that ELA fellows will carry forward the learnings and relationships beyond Alaska to their own communities — leading their resilient energy futures.

On my flight back from Kotzebue, I caught a glimpse of Denali, the highest mountain in North America. In the Koyukon language, Denali means “the tall one.” The communities we visited reminded me of the climbing teams on its slopes: resilience is not a destination, but the ability to keep moving upward, together.