Project Overview

Tribe/Awardee
Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association

Location
Anchorage, AK

Project Title
Tribal Weatherization Training

Type of Application
First Steps (Planning)

DOE Grant Number
DE-EE0002524

Project Amounts
DOE: $200,000
Awardee: $0
Total: $0

Project Status
See project status

Project Period of Performance
Start: January 2010
End: June 2011

Summary

The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. (APIA) will conduct on-site weatherization and energy conservation education and a home energy and safety review in the communities of Akutan, Atka, False Pass, King Cove, Nelson Lagoon, Nikolski, Sand Point, St. George, St. Paul, and Unalaska. Priority will be given to the smaller communities and the residences most in need of weatherization and energy conservation measures. Local residents will be trained to continue all three aspects of the project: weatherization, energy conservation education, and a home energy and safety review.

Project Description

Background

The applicant, Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. (APIA), is the federally recognized tribal organization of the Aleut people in Alaska. The 1976 merger of two predecessor organizations—the Aleut League and the Aleutian Planning Commission—led to its formation. APIA was chartered the same year as a nonprofit corporation in the State of Alaska. APIA's mission is to promote the overall economic, social, and cultural development of its beneficiaries, and to provide the best healthcare and social services possible for the Aleut people and all Native residents of the Aleutian Pribilof Islands region.

This project will reach three traditional Unanga (Aleut) communities located in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands and on the Alaska Peninsula. The community members served by this project include, but are not limited to, all Unanga tribal members and American Indian and Alaska Native residents.

Project Objectives

To increase the human capacity for implementation of a tribal Weatherization Assistance Program, four project objectives were identified:

  • OBJECTIVE 1: Identify and hire three part-time local community members who desire to learn weatherization techniques as energy technicians.
  • OBJECTIVE 2: Train energy technicians in methods of weatherization assistance.
  • OBJECTIVE 3: Develop an active listing of regional residential homes that require weatherization.
  • OBJECTIVE 4: Energy technicians will perform weatherization on identified regional residential homes.

Once achieved, these goals and objectives will build capacity among the tribes in the area of weatherization. Toward this purpose our people must be recruited and trained, and weatherization needs assessed for each community.

At the end of this program, energy technicians will be employed by APIA or the local Tribal Administration to perform weatherization services for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (federal) or Alaska Heating Assistance Program (State of Alaska) weatherization programs, as well as contract with the Aleutian Housing Authority to perform energy audits for their units located in the region.

Project Location

This project will reach three traditional Unanga (Aleut) communities located in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands and on the Alaska Peninsula. Unanga territory in Alaska encompasses the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilof Islands, and the Alaska Peninsula west of Stepovak Bay, a region of over 100,000 square miles.  These communities are the most remote in Alaska, and are not linked by central road, air, or ferry systems. They are between 570 and 1,200 air miles from Anchorage, the closest transportation center.

Project Status

The project is complete. For details, see the final report.

The project was competitively selected under the Tribal Energy Program's fiscal year 2009 funding opportunity announcement, "First Steps Toward Tribal Weatherization — Human Capacity Development," and started in January 2010.

The November 2009, October 2010, and November 2011 project status reports provide more information.