August 21, 2025 Seward Folly Staff

The City of Seward’s Electric Department has a survey  (www.sewardsurvey.com) to collect feedback to help shape the future direction of the local utility. Three lucky winners could win cash awards, and the survey is short – about 3 minutes. It’s open to all residents from Lawing at Mile 23 to Lowell Pt. 

The department’s administration is attempting to chart a course moving forward, and this survey is probing the public’s vision – does the city keep the utility as is, sell it, or perhaps create a cooperative similar to Cordova’s successful model?

An electric cooperative would have a board populated by members that would range from Lowell Point to Lawing managing the utility, rather than the city. Cooperatives have a few large advantages, including lower interest loans that enable them to invest in larger infrastructure with longer pay back times. 

The admin is also interested in the public’s appetite for exploring renewable energy options. Scheffler Creek has the potential for 2.5 megawatts of hydropower generation, according to Operations Supervisor Taylor Crocker, and the old reservoir on Mt. Marathon’s Jeep Trail is being resurrected and expected to generate close to 600 (a little over ½ a megawatt) kilowatts with improved technology. Other potential areas include Godwin Glacier/Fourth of July Creek, and Box Canyon. According to a 2023 hydropower study by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/14/5494), the Seward area, from Trail Lake south to town, has six of the top ten lowest cost pump storage hydropower (PSH) sites in the Railbelt. The group is also resurrecting the AVTEC windmill that’s been inactive for years. Some of this work is being funded by a grant from the Clean Ports Grant the city was awarded last year as part of the shore power battery installation for cruise ships. It takes about 8 megawatts of electricity to power the city – and it’s conceivable that much of that could be from hydropower. 

In addition to the hydropower possibilities, there are different heat pumps emerging that might be cost effective considering our relatively warmer winter waters. Last year the city supported one application of this technology to heat four downtown city buildings, including City Hall, but the project fell through. According to Crocker, these technologies are rapidly improving and the city can be primed to seize opportunities as they arise. And with the recent upgrades to 115kV the city could possibly sell excess power back to the Railbelt if the situation arose.  

The City of Cordova is managed as a cooperative and has electric rates significantly lower than Seward. They’ve invested heavily in hydropower over the years – so much that they actually have managed to operate a data center – something deemed wildly impossible in most areas of Alaska due to their high costs of power. They’ve also attracted more fish processors with their lower costs of energy.  

The department tally is close to 380 respondents. After the survey results are tabulated, the department plans to have community meetings to discuss the future of the Seward Electric Department.  

There’s plenty more to read this week in the Folly. See below, or click on the mountains (logo) on the top of this page to go to the Home page–works on every page of the Folly.

Seward Arts Council events this week

The history and future of USCG’s Storis Icebreaker