Renewable Juneau’s Alaska Carbon Reduction Fund (ACRF) has wasted no time in embracing its new regional approach! The Fund recently came to the rescue of Flora J. in Angoon upon learning that her home’s boiler had failed. Flora’s Juneau-based daughter, herself a recipient of an ACRF heat pump (also boiler failure!), reached us when the crisis hit and ACRF volunteers jumped into action.
Luck was obviously on our side and Flora’s side! Like most small southeast villages, Angoon is not overflowing with ready-to-go contractors so the likelihood of prompt heating service was in question. The ‘power of partnerships’ came into play for Flora and the benefits of strong partnerships can’t be overstated. ACRF, now managed by Alaska Heat Smart (AHS), shares a love of heat pumps with the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority (THRHA). AHS staff reached out to THRHA’s Director of Project Development, AHS board member, and ‘heat pump wonder worker’ Lorraine DeAsis, to surprisingly learn that a crew of THRHA contractors was fresh off the ferry in Angoon and were available to help.
As the 44th carbon-reducing heat pump installation project for ACRF, this one set new records as the speediest ACRF project yet! The THRHA crew was fast, efficient, and overly effective! The failed boiler was diagnosed and parts were ordered. Electrical systems were inspected and deemed adequate for a 20-amp heat pump circuit. A heat pump was prepped in Juneau and shipped over just two days later. In short, in roughly a week’s time, Flora’s boiler was repaired, a heat pump installed and powered up, and Flora’s home back to warm and cozy. Similar projects in Juneau have taken weeks and often months to see through from start to finish!
What did Flora J. have to say about this amazing process?
I feel so so blessed to have been included in your program and for all the great work you good people have done. I want you all to know how grateful I am and how blessed I feel to have been included, along with others whom I ‘m sure feel as I do. THANK YOU, SINCERELY, FLORA!
What’s next for ACRF? We’ll be working with the volunteers in Sitka who manage the Sitka Carbon Offset Fund (SCOF). It’s our hope to be able to assist with fundraising and project administration in order to help shrink the existing SCOF waitlist. Our partnership with Allen Marine Tours should aid this process as Allen Marine began collecting carbon-reducing fees for ACRF from independent travelers during the summer of 2023. These and future fees will be put to work in Sitka, as well as Ketchikan and Juneau, to help assist with lower income family home heating needs and heat pump installations. Additionally, the AHS Clean Heat Incentive Program (CHIP) operating in Sitka offers financial assistance to lower to moderate homeowners looking to install heat pumps. CHIP incentives can be braided with SCOF funds to help move projects forward more quickly, allowing limited SCOF dollars to be allocated to a greater number of homes in need.
ACRF volunteers are also in dialog with interests in Ketchikan. We’re hopeful that we can begin helping lower income oil-burning families at the panhandle’s southern end sooner than later.
In the meantime, we ask you to support our fantastic business partners! Generous support from Above and Beyond Alaska (ABAK) – read about ABAK’s ‘land steward’ partnerships and Angoon support here as well as their sustainability measures here – the Kensington Mine, and others, combined with our monthly subscribers and one-off offsetters make our work possible, helping to save families money, to reduce home heating carbon emissions, and to improve the lives of some who need the help the most!
