Seward is seeing a surging interest in sustainable infrastructure, with the first car charging stations being installed in town and a new campaign to solarize the city underway.
Laura Schneider of Exit Marine and 60 Degrees Adventure Charters installed the first electric vehicle charging stations in Seward earlier this year after recognizing a local need.
“We put the initial one in because our business partners had gotten a Tesla,” Schneider said. “We thought that we should put a station in so that they could charge when they come visit.”
While installing the first station, Schneider and her husband and co-owner Kenneth Cardwell realized they were the only station in Seward.
“We realized there were no other options,” she said. “And we realized we should install some community chargers to see how it goes.”
And since installation, it has been going well, with a variety of electric vehicles showing up to recharge.
“Surprisingly, there has been someone parked there everyday,” Schneider said. “We have an adapter for non-Teslas, too, so that any electric vehicle can pull in and plug in.”
Schneider said she anticipates seeing more charging stations popping up throughout Seward, including in her own home.
“I’m definitely open to talking with other businesses about doing it and expanding opportunities to other places in town. I’d love to share our experience,” she said. “We’re building our house currently and putting charging stations in there even though we don’t have an electric vehicle. It’s the future.”
In addition to electric charging stations, the Seward community is taking steps toward installing solar on interested homes in the area during the second year of the Solarize the Kenai project, a volunteer-led campaign of community members and organizations working to provide access to affordable solar across the Kenai Peninsula.
“Solarize is a win, win, win,” Kaitlin Vadla, regional director at Cook Inletkeeper’s Community Action Studio in Soldotna, where the Solarize the Kenai campaign originated, said in a press release. “It increases local energy security, creates good jobs in a new industry, and makes clean energy more affordable.”
According to the release, the Solarize the Kenai program returned for a second year after a successful 2020 campaign where more than $1.5 million was invested in clean energy and nearly half a megawatt of power was installed at reduced rates.
The program gathers those interested in solar throughout a region and invites solar installers to bid for the job to serve them all. According to Solarize Kenai, the increased interest in solar is affecting policies at electric utilities.
“In the fall of 2020, the Seward Electric Utility adopted the practice of net metering, which credits the owner when their renewable energy system generates more electricity than they use in a single month,” according to Solarize the Kenai.
In addition to energy savings, a solar installation would also let home and business owners take advantage of a federal investment tax credit worth 26% of the installation cost.
More than 300 people across the Kenai Peninsula, including in Seward, expressed interest in solarizing. Final prices and quotes will be released in early April, according to the website.
Kat Sorensen is a freelance journalist who currently serves as the marketing and communications director for the Seward Chamber of Commerce.
