NPR: Like a Ski Slope: Juneau's Energy Use

Like a Ski Slope: Juneau's Energy Use

Filed under: News

Juneau's electrical use, before and after the avalanche.

Our old pal Jill Homer has been having a world of fun in Alaska, going on 150-mile bike rides, etc. Jill works at the local paper, the Juneau Empire, where lately the news has been all about the city's precipitous decline in electric use.

An avalanche last month wiped out Juneau's hydroelectric power. The electric company has been powering the city on diesel, at $4 a gallon. After the utility warned people about outsize bills -- something like three or four times the usual -- residents went around unplugging every possible appliance. Jill and her housemates just got their bill; she writes that they came in under $100, when they'd expected to pay more than twice that.

Laura Conaway

3:05 PM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Stories like this give me hope that give me hope that our civilization can live sustainably. When properly motivated even Americans are capable of great feats of conservation.

Sent by Dave Wiley | 4:44 PM ET | 05-27-2008

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