Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy

A community renewable energy strategy was first proposed by the Sustainability Commission as part of its 2023-2024 Work Plan(PDF, 3MB), which was approved by the Assembly on March 23rd, 2023 (Item 23-046). To support the project, the Sustainability Commission recommended applying to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE) Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP) for technical assistance. The Assembly passed Resolution 23-18, which authorized the Municipal Administrator to apply to the ETIPP program to develop a community energy strategy. CBS successful, and joined the third cohort of ETIPP in the Fall. 

The Sustainability Commission assisted City staff  and national labs scope the project, which became known as the Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy (SCRES). The purpose of the SCRES was intended to establish a shared vision of Sitka’s energy future to guide energy-related community decisions and shape roadmap for community and policy actions that advance that shared energy vision.

The scope of the SCRES project included:

A Community-wide Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory to act as an energy baseline to support strategic planning, electricity demand projections, goal setting, and progress tracking. The Sustainability Commission provided significant guidance in the scoping of the inventory. Throughout 2024, PNNL engineers created a custom inventory based on existing GHG inventory protocols as much as possible but created additional methods to capture the unique aspects of Sitka not normally included in community inventories. The Sustainability Commission advised throughout the development of the inventory and facilitated public input.

Go to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory

Energy Education: The Sustainability Commission identified energy education as a critical component necessary for community members to effectively participate in energy planning and strategy development. Based on results from the initial scoping survey, the Commission recommended eight educational modules be developed to provide information on Sitka’s energy landscape while addressing topics of community interest and questions.  Additionally, a radio series connecting seemingly unrelated topics to Sitka’s electric grid and webinar series covering the modules were also created.

Community Engagement was also emphasized by the Commission and took many forms throughout the energy education module development but also through community workshops, which were held in 2025 to facilitate the creation of personalized visions and pathways to Sitka in 25 years. Using real data from Sitka’s electric grid and needs and calculated through the GHG emissions inventory process, the exercise was formatted as a boardgame called Energy Quest: Sitka’s Path to 2050. The purpose of this game was to help community members understand the complexity of energy planning as both a consumer and the electric utility. This then informed player’s priorities of what can be electrified by when, and how additional demand can be met if needed. Through this process, four guiding principles for Sitka’s energy future emerged: affordability, reliability, self-sufficiency, and innovation. The game and a detailed report of results from 12 workshops, and materials are available online.

Learn more about the Energy Quest game

Recommended actions and policies to advance Sitka’s shared energy vision: The final SCRES document will be a unique strategic plan that combines community and City actions that together will support an affordable, reliable, self-sufficient, and innovative energy future. The final strategic document is currently in development and is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2026.

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