{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=0cf57ed8-c3ed-4efa-875f-213a8acb1173", "Sen. Murkowski Highlights Alaskas Leadership in Energy Innovation", "2015-12-07", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.07.15\n\t\t\t Sen. Murkowski Highlights Alaskas Leadership in Energy Innovation \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tU.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, this week highlighted the energy innovation occurring in some of Alaskas most isolated communities as local leaders seek to reduce the cost of electricity through a variety of cutting-edge technologies.\r\n\r\nClick here to view video of Thursdays event\r\nSpeaking Thursday at an event hosted by The Hill newspaper on microgrids and innovation, Murkowski said that integrating a mix of local renewable resources  hydro and wind, chiefly  is a way for many Alaska communities to cut their dependence on expensive diesel that must be shipped in. About 70 communities in Alaska have reportedly integrated renewable energy with traditional diesel generation.\r\n\r\n\r\nAlaska has dozens of isolated communities that arent within a hundred miles of an electric grid. Every one of them relies on a microgrid because they have no other choice, and the cost of energy for those communities is extremely high, said Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.\r\nMurkowski also noted that Hybrid microgrids dont make sense for everyone, but for more and more Alaska communities, integrating renewables and storage is a viable option. Theyre doing it to reduce their diesel use  to lower their heating and electricity costs, gain a little more control over their supply, and increase its reliability. Microgrids are also being used to connect villages that are close to each other, which vastly increases their options if a generator goes down. That can be a matter of life and death due to the harsh winters in rural Alaska.\r\nMurkowski highlighted the community of Kodiak, which is currently producing 99.7 percent of its electricity from renewable energy. Kodiaks isolated microgrid uses wind, hydro, batteries, and a flywheel to generate power.\r\nIt is the perfect example for the rest of the country to follow, Murkowski said. Kodiaks renewable energy use is not only reducing its dependence on diesel, it is also spurring economic growth by lowering the cost of power in the community considerably.\r\nMurkowski has long supported advancing the use of microgrid technology in Alaska. She also included a provision to promote microgrid technology in the broad, bipartisan energy bill reported 18-4 by the energy committee earlier this year.\r\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n     \n\t\n \n\t\n    \n    \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t  \n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=0cf57ed8-c3ed-4efa-875f-213a8acb1173"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8637750763446093, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}