Developing our local resources

Cordova, like many rural Alaskan towns, faces an energy crisis. Because we are not connected to a large grid like communities on the railbelt, we must rely on local resources and imported diesel to produce our electricity and heat. Fuel prices fluctuate over time, creating price uncertainties and occasionally forcing us to make tough choices when the cost gets too high. The Native Village of Eyak seeks to develop some of our local energy resources to stabilize future energy prices and save tribal members, and the community, money in the long run.

NVE cooperates with the Cordova Electric Cooperative (CEC) through a memorandum of agreement to collaborate on mutually beneficial energy projects. This has led to the formation of the Cordova Renewable Energy Workgroup (the CREW), and the development of a long-term energy plan for Cordova that focuses on the development of our local, renewable energy resources. Short-term goals of the CREW include repairing and upgrading Humpback Creek power station, studying the feasibility of wind energy production, increasing the efficiency of diesel generators with a secondary organic rankin cycle, and finding new uses for waste biomass including heat generation and the development of cold weather methane cook stoves. CREW projects that NVE is overseeing are listed in the menu to the left. Future CREW projects may include further development of our hydroelectric resources, feasibility studies on tidal power and other emerging technologies, and the sustainable harvesting of quick-growing species such as willow for heat generation, among other potential projects.