Twelve community workshops 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 greenhouse gas 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.
Early in the SCRES, the Sustainability Commission emphasized the importance of youth engagement in the planning process since its their future that is being planned. Classes from Sitka High School, Pacific High School, and Mt. Edgecumbe High School all participated. Other workshops were open to the public.