HomeMy WebLinkAboutASLC letter of support
September 11, 2015
Sara Fisher-Goad
Executive Director
Alaska Energy Authority
813 West Northern Lights Blvd.
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Dear Ms. Fisher-Goad,
On behalf of the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), I am writing to express my support for the City
of Seward’s application for a Renewable Energy Grant to fund a Ground Source Heat Pump.
In 2012, with help from federal and state grant monies, heat pumps were installed at the ASLC, a
facility which is now heated through the sub-arctic winter by the sea water in Resurrection Bay.
Since then, our heating costs have been cut by more than half. The grant for which the City of
Seward is now applying will further the innovation and success of the ASLC’s heat pump
system.
The City’s proposed project will greatly lower the cost of heating in four heavily used public
buildings by displacing heating oil with ocean source heat pumps. The project will also develop
improved methods of integrating heat pumps in to existing buildings that utilize medium
temperature hydronic systems. Ultimately, this project will lower the cost of space heating for
buildings thru the winter, and hot water heating in the summer. Additional benefits include a
reduction in pollution associated with the production, storage, transport and burning of the fossil
fuel. Also, this project will allow a market for district heat to develop in Seward that may
eventually benefit ASLC as the Center could sell heat into a future district loop.
I would encourage the Alaska Energy Authority to support the proposed project. Please do not
hesitate to reach out with questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Tara L. Riemer, Ph.D.
President and CEO