HomeMy WebLinkAboutKwaan Support LetterYAK -TAT KWAAN INC.
September 19, 2013
Alaska Energy Authority
813 West Northern Lights Boulevard
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
To Whom It May Concern:
As the local ANCSA Corporation for Yakutat, Yak-Tat-Kwaan supports the utilization of forest resources
as a heating source to replace the significant amount of diesel burned for space heating annually. One of
our goals for the project is to link Yak -tat Kwaan's forest management program and the biomass products
produced with the installed boiler technology and have the best opportunity for expansion and
integration of future biomass projects. Therefore, we are investigating ways to most effectively and
economically transition from oil heat to wood heat looking at multiple scales and potential technologies.
Yak-tat-Kwaan strongly supports the City and Borough of Yakutat in their application for Round 7 of the
AEAs Renewable Energy Grant program. The Yakutat Community Center is a building that will benefit
directly from the switch to biomass heat. In 2012, our corporation purchased 4,288 gallons of heating oil
at a cost of $21,919. We paid an average of about $5.11 per gallon. The Kwaan believes we can heat the
building more cost effectively through biomass wood heat, and we would prefer that these dollars be
spent in Yakutat's economy.
We see this as a very important step for the community as a whole, and we're hopeful it will lead to
further biomass heating projects that will learn from and complement this project. We are working
closely with CBYs planning staff to take a comprehensive approach to forest management, seeking to
integrate our thinking from the biological factors of our forests with the economics of heat delivery. We
want to see that biomass development is done right, with the best practices in the forest and the best
technology in heat delivery systems. We're excited about this opportunity and are glad to support the
CBY in their pursuit of this grant.
Sincerely, I d gat �Avat/
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Tom Harris
President & CEO, Yak -Tat Kwaan, Inc.
YAK -TAT KWAAN, INC. * P.O. BOX 416 * YAKUTAT, ALASKA 99689*907-784-3335 or 784-3488* FAX 907-784-3622
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