Clean energy fair gets electric focus
- Ellie Ruel
- Sep 23
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 1
Renewable Juneau partners with annual EV roundup for a climate-based carnival
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
Local climate enthusiasts and locals looking for an indoor carnival feel took refuge from Sunday’s rainstorm at Renewable Juneau’s clean energy fair in the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. Live music and a variety of festival games, including large-format Jenga and ring toss, kept fairgoers entertained. Booths offered information about renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, and climate impacts.
“There's so much good that's going on here in Juneau about renewable energy, and there's so much misinformation,” said Sally Saddler, board president of Renewable Juneau. “The idea behind the festival was to be informative, educate people, be inspirational, help them understand ways they could be involved, ways they could save money, and most important of all, have fun.”
For Saddler, that involves promoting Renewable Juneau’s prospective clean energy ambassador program as well as a petition to reverse Alaska Marine Lines’ decision to stop shipping EVs and plug-in hybrids last month due to safety concerns. Since the ferry system also limits how many EVs can sail at a time, the situation essentially cuts off EVs from most vehicle shipping methods.
“So, if they sail once a week for 52 weeks, that's only 104 electric vehicles that we can get here," Saddler said. “We're hoping that we can shine a light on people's understanding and recognition that this is a problem.”
Renewable Juneau is not quite sure who they’ll submit the petition to yet, but plan to leverage community outreach and word-of-mouth to promote the cause. Some members have floated buying EV blankets for the ferry system to protect against possible onboard fires caused by the cars’ lithium-ion batteries going into thermal runaway.
Despite the $7,500 tax credit for new EVs and the $4,000 credit for used EVs ending on Sept. 30 as a result of the Trump administration's executive orders on energy, locals seem more concerned with being able to purchase electric vehicles at all.
For now, local EV owners are coping with the change by prolonging their cars’ lives for as long as possible.
“My Leaf is 12 years old now," said Steve Behnke, a founding member of Renewable Juneau. “I think it's going to force us all to think about how to keep them longer, because it’s something that's here.”
The clean energy fair coincided with the annual EV Round Up, which took place in the parking lot across the street. Wet conditions caused a lower turnout for that portion of the event, and drove most EV owners to convene inside the JAHC. About 200 people attended the combined three-hour event.
Kyle Cuzzort is a longtime EV owner, and worked a booth featuring EV coloring pages and charts that showed increasing EV usage in Juneau over the years, with about one EV per 30 people last year.
“I think I still have more EV miles under my belt than anybody in town,” Cuzzort said. “We still have a 2013 Nissan Leaf, and then last year, we bought a Mazda MX-30.”
He noted that while EV batteries might have a set shelf life for driving, they could be reused in other ways such as an alternative power source for an off-grid cabin and wouldn’t necessarily wind up in the landfill. Overall, he thinks that EV’s are a good investment for Juneauites given the topography.
“The climate in Juneau is the single best climate on Earth for lithium-ion batteries. It does not get too hot here, it does not get too cold here,” Cuzzort said. “We just need to be able to get them here, which is not impossible. It's just a lot harder.”
Cars weren’t the only electric vehicles spotlighted. Bob Varness owns Tongass Rain Electric Cruise, which sells electric propulsion systems for boats. Varness brought pamphlets and his own electrically-propelled boat, the Tongas Mist, which he says is a relatively cost-efficient mode of transportation.
“It typically has a range of about 45 miles. And it only costs about $2 to recharge it, so it's a lot cheaper than the gas,” Varness said.
Other tables offered information on heat pumps, Juneau’s power grid and climate activism opportunities. Roommates Noa Carlson and Kylie Ferguson were excited to learn more about how energy costs could be lowered without “knocking down walls.”
“We’re gathering information for our aspirational future,” Ferguson said.
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
