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ANGOON - Residents of Juneau concerned with an increase in their monthly utility bills might find it easy to forget that in some Southeast communities, energy woes have been a constant issue for years. Rural areas like Angoon, heavily dependent on fossil fuels, face energy prices as high as ten times the national average. A new project, headed by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, aims to change that.

Dan Lesh, energy coordinator for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, said the goal of the sustainability project is to show how efficiency and renewability can cut energy costs in rural villages.

Lesh said the cost of energy is exceptionally high in Angoon. The upper limit can be as high as $1,200 per month for a single household, he said, with the average cost in the $300 to $500 range.

"It's one of the biggest issues in these small communities," Lesh said.

The state subsidizes a part of the cost through the Alaska Energy Authority's Power Cost Equalization program, Lesh said, which helps reduce bills slightly. The program is only implemented for residences, not for businesses, however.

The sustainability project is funded by a grant co-written by Lesh and Andrei Chakine, manager of the Central Council's Business and Economic Development Department.

Chakine has been trying to work on energy issues in rural villages for quite a while, Lesh said.

The Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority quickly became interested in the project. The Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, joined in as well.

"Pretty much anyone we talked to wanted to be involved," Lesh said.

The project aims to demonstrate that renewability and efficiency can cut energy prices up to 65 percent in rural villages. Lesh said sustainability and self-sufficiency are already core values to the residents of Angoon.

"They've been working on them on their own for a long time," he said. "I feel like we're more just facilitating ideas that are coming from the community up."

Lesh said there is no "silver bullet" when it comes to creating affordable and sustainable energy for Southeast Alaska. Solar, wind, hydro, geothermal projects can all can play a role, he said, in the region as well as the rest of the country.

"That's what this project is about," Lesh said, "doing what we can to help out now, and showing what energy efficiency and small scale renewable energy options are going to contribute the bigger solution for rural villages."

The main project, to be completed in September, is the retrofit of an actual residence in Angoon. New insulation, siding and appliances will be implemented. Solar panels and a small wind generator will be used to compensate for some of the house's energy needs. At present, a diesel-powered generator runs it.

The house chosen for the demonstration belongs to elders Peggy and Kelly Williams.

"I'm very excited to participate in this project," said Peggy Williams. "It'll be nice to live in a warm house, reduce my energy consumption, and be able to get some of my power from the sun."

A documentary about the project will also be filmed and distributed in Southeast.

There is already local support for the project, said Rocky Estrada, store development technician at the Angoon Business Center.

"I've heard nothing but good things about it from the people who live here," he said. "Any chance to lower energy costs is good news."

One of the unique ways they got the word out about the project was by CB radio, Estrada said, which many Angoon residents have in their homes, boats and cars. He said that people communicated by CB in the area before landlines, cell phones and the Internet.

"It makes for a great resource for communication," he said. "People can to tune in to channel five and find out what's happening."

Many people in Angoon are now turning their sights toward social networking sites like Facebook to connect to each other, Estrada said.

"FB is the new CB for the new generation," he said.

The sustainability project has already benefitted the community, Estrada said. The group examined structures in Angoon, and found ones that were not properly insulated for the winters in Angoon. As a result, three houses are now scheduled to be weatherized. This leads to much-needed local employment as well, he said.

Estrada said that potential businesses in Angoon also face unique challenges due to the high cost of energy. The business center encourages residents to become entrepreneurs, he said, but it can be difficult to get a budding business off the ground.

"In Angoon everything revolves around the energy issue," he said.

More information about the project can be found on the website www.sustainangoon.org.

Richard Radford may be reached at richard.radford@capweek.com. Energy self-sufficiency demonstration project gets underway in Angoon