U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today announced the 13 rural communities selected for targeted technical assistance funding as part of the next phase of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Remote Alaska Communities Energy Efficiency (RACEE) competition.

“Alaska’s remote communities pay more for energy than just about anywhere else in the country,” Murkowski said. “Promoting energy innovation in every way we can is important, and that includes improved energy efficiency. The communities selected today will have the opportunity to develop efficiency plans that are both sustainable and aligned with their vision for the future. Most importantly, these rural Alaska communities are now one step closer to reducing energy costs for local residents.”

In July 2015, the unsubsidized cost of heating oil was as high as $9 per gallon in some regions of Alaska, while electricity reached $1.50 per kilowatt hour in some of the state’s remote locales.

DOE intends to issue a total of $4 million to support projects designed to improve community energy efficiency in rural Alaska through the three-phased RACEE competition. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz announced the competition earlier this year during a visit to Bethel that came at Murkowski’s invitation. 

The first phase of the RACEE Competition culminated in February when 64 communities in rural Alaska were recognized as “Community Efficiency Champions” – each community pledged to improve energy efficiency by at least 15 percent by 2020. All 64 will continue to receive guidance from DOE on how to reach their savings pledge regardless of whether or not they were selected for targeted technical assistance during phase two.

DOE is providing $600,000 in funding for phase two of the RACEE competition to the Alaska Energy Authority to deliver technical assistance to the 13 selected communities to develop energy efficiency plans to meet their pledged 15 percent energy reduction by 2020.

In the third and final phase of the RACEE competition, DOE will award up to $3.4 million in competitive grants to up to five Alaska communities for implementation of the community energy efficiency plans developed during the completion of phase two.

The full list of the 13 communities receiving targeted technical assistance from DOE is below.