In September 2024 Coeur Alaska contributed $50,000 to Renewable Juneau’s Alaska Carbon Reduction Fund (ACRF) to offset emissions at its Kensington Mine site north of Juneau at Berners Bay. This will be Coeur’s fourth year partnering with ACRF to offset carbon emissions at the Kensington mine site, with contributions to date exceeding $200,000! This critical support has allowed Coeur Alaska to help reduce the annual heating bills and heating emissions for over two dozen lower-income Juneau families. On average, Coeur Alaska’s assistance with heat pump installations saves a family $1,200 annually! For a family of five getting by on $40K a year, that savings can represent more food on the table, a warmer and dryer home, or new clothes for kids heading to school.
Coeur Alaska was an early supporter of Renewable Juneau and its Alaska Carbon Reduction Fund. Coeur was quick to recognize the Fund’s value to local families and the value to its sustainability goals in working to reduce both local and community impacts from its operations. “Our partnership with the Alaska Carbon Reduction Fund is a win-win,” says Coeur’s External Affairs Manager Rochelle Lindley. “Not only does the Fund provide a means for us to reduce our environmental footprint through carbon offseting nearly 2.4 million pounds of 2024 emissions, but it allows us to do so in a way that helps the community, assists families in need, and supports the local economy. We are proud to make a difference here in Southeast and we hope our partnership will encourage other businesses to support ACRF.”
Coeur Alaska’s continued support will allow an additional eight or more families to reap the tremendous benefits of the region’s inexpensive hydroelectric power. Juneau and other ‘hydro towns’ across southeast enjoy some of the least expensive electrical rates in Alaska. Without financial support, many families are unable to leap the financial hurdles required to take advantage of these low rates. Generous support from Coeur, other ACRF supporters, and the many assistance programs available from our partner Alaska Heat Smart are working to bring these benefits to all and not just those with the upfront capital to act.
2024 represented the five-year anniversary for ACRF and the milestone of serving 50 homes in the Fund’s first five years. On the horizon is the goal of serving 120 homes over the first ten years of ACRF work. Can you help us reach this ambitious target? We’ll need your support and there are many ways to offer it! Subscribe and take responsibility for your carbon! Tell your neighbors so they can give or subscribe. Know a family struggling to pay their heating oil bills? Send them to our application page!
We send a loud shoutout to all of our supporters – subscription supporters who contribute a few carbon-reduction dollars every month, visitor supporters who pay ACRF to balance out impacts from their local excursions, and the local and regional businesses that look to the Fund for its services, its outcomes, and its ability to help them achieve their forward-thinking carbon-reducing sustainability goals.
