"Wave and Tidal Power Hit First in Remote Communities"

Wave and Tidal Power Hit First in Remote Communities

Climate Wire at the Scientific American

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wave-and-tidal-power-hit-first-in-remote-communities/

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If you ask the people of Yakutat, Alaska, the best part about living in this small, remote town is the breathtaking natural beauty. The worst part is the price of electricity.

Yakutat's 1.5-megawatt electrical system is completely reliant on diesel fuel, which is delivered four times per year at a price of $4.50 per gallon. In recent years, the community's electricity prices have been consistently between 50 and 60 cents per kilowatt-hour. In February, according to the Department of Energy, the average residential user in the United States paid less than 12 cents per kWh.

High energy costs are threatening the very existence of the community, said Scott Newlun, general manager of Yakutat's municipally owned power plant. People have been living in Yakutat for thousands of years. But in the last two decades the population has dropped by half -- from 1,200 to 600 -- as residents have been forced to move somewhere with more job opportunities and a lower cost of living.

To try to reverse this trend, Newlun started looking for alternative ways to power his town. Having worked for years as a commercial fisherman, Newlun decided to look to the ocean for a solution and started to explore the possibility of powering Yakutat with wave and tidal power, known collectively as marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy



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