Kawerak seeks bids on three Bering Strait energy studies, due Aug. 15

Kawerak, Inc. is looking for contractors to size up the bulk fuel tanks, power plants and other energy infrastructure that keep 20 Bering Strait tribal communities running. Proposals are due Aug. 15 at 5 p.m. AKDT.

The Nome-based tribal consortium issued a request for proposals, an open call for firms to describe how they would do the work and what they would charge. It covers three linked scopes: a financial analysis for a regional energy entity, a regional bulk fuel assessment, and a critical energy infrastructure needs assessment and implementation plan. Firms can bid on one piece or all three. Proposals must be emailed to both Kayla Bourdon, Kawerak's energy program coordinator, and Amanda Toerdal.

The region runs largely on diesel delivered by barge. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a June 16 floor speech that fuel hit $9 a gallon in Dillingham and $14 in Nuiqsut, communities outside the Bering Strait region, and that villages taking summer barge deliveries are locked into those prices through winter. Buying in volume is one way communities try to blunt that cost. "Bulk fuel are basically large fuel tanks to where it allows a community to buy in bulk in order to get that cost down," Jocelyn Fenton of the Denali Commission said at a May 20 discussion of rural infrastructure resilience.

The communities on the receiving end have been asking for this kind of help for years. A federal Office of Indian Energy project description for Kawerak's earlier Bering Strait Energy Planning Network said the work would "provide energy training and information to the 20 tribal communities in the Bering Strait Region of northwest Alaska, host an annual regional Energy Summit in the hub community of Nome, and provide remote and on-site technical support to communities and tribes that are working on energy planning or specific projects." Fifteen of the region's tribes are also working through Kawerak's climate action planning on energy priorities, and the region's business owners have been surveyed about the costs of operating in remote villages. Planning documents have not moved quickly, though. The 2015 Bering Strait Regional Energy Plan promised projects that would cut energy costs, and diesel prices in the region have kept climbing since.

This is planning work, not construction. The notice names no villages, facilities or dollar figures, and no contractor has been selected. Firms with questions can reach the energy program coordinator at 907-443-4279.