In April, Juneau residents and businesses faced an energy crisis. An avalanche took out the transmission lines from our hydropower plant, and that meant electricity in Juneau was powered by more costly diesel fuel.
Facing bills five times higher than usual, I am happy to report that our Juneau SEARHC facilities greatly reduced our power use so we could weather this crisis. We cut our power use at some Juneau facilities by as much as 20 percent from our April bill to our June bill by taking simple conservation steps, such as turning off lights and unplugging unused appliances. By conserving energy we use fewer fossil fuels, and we also reduce air pollution that impacts our health.
Many of these conservation steps already were being added when the avalanche hit. SEARHC created an employee-led Green Team earlier this year to look for ways our consortium can save energy, beef up recycling, reduce waste and use greener products.
Through these efforts, SEARHC is reducing its impact on the environment and helping to make Southeast Alaska a healthier place to live.
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SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium