**Title**: Energy in the North - Zack Miller
**Date**: April 22, 2026
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Zack Miller

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;10;24 [Zack Miller] The hydro is being worked on for a long time. Our diesel power plant was really supposed to supplement the hydro, and then we kind of got stopped when we got the diesel plant known and the hydro kind of behind on that.

00;00;10;24 - 00;00;42;03 [Amanda Byrd] This week on energy and the night, I spoke with Zach Miller, a community member and business owner from Elfin Cove on Chichikov Island in southeast Alaska. Elfin Cove has eight year round residents, but in summer that swells with fishing tourism to a few hundred people. The main power demand is 25 kilowatt hours, and that is met by diesel generators, and they're also working on developing a hydropower plant. I started the conversation by asking Zac if the hydro power Project is a community driven decision.

00;00;42;03 - 00;01;11;24 [Zack Miller] I think it's I think it's 100 kilowatt. I think it's 100 kW is good, but I'm not. I'm pretty solid on the either 100 kilowatt hour or 100kW. So and this was a community's decision to put in hydro. Correct. Yeah. Mike said it's been being worked on for a long time. Our diesel power plant was really supposed to supplement the hydro, and then it kind of got stopped when we got the diesel plant. You know, in in the hydro kind of behind on that. 

00;01;11;24 - 00;01;35;22 [Amanda Byrd] So what the hydro and there's only eight people in the community year round. But with an influx of hundreds of people in the summertime, there must be a really exciting opportunity for development with hydro. 

00;01;35;22 - 00;02;01;24 [Zack Miller] Yeah it is. I mean, our kilowatt hour cost right now is pretty extreme. I mean, we're at $0.75 a kilowatt hour. So even for the year round folks and even, you know, people who stay more the shoulder seasons, you know, in from March to November, December. Yeah. It's an exciting thing for a lot of people get that going. That's a huge expense. Yeah. That's like a do you guys have a PC? Well, some do, but only are you around, folks, $0.75 a kilowatt hour about.

00;02;01;24 - 00;02;20;16 [Amanda Byrd] Wow. That's incredible. And then are you. He said that you're on an island. And so being on an island, the fuel cost must also be a significant factor for, the cost of doing business in the cost of just living on the island must also be a significant cost.

00;02;20;16 - 00;02;35;04 [Zack Miller] Right. I mean, that's a part of everything. It's all factored in, which contributes to that kilowatt hour price. And yeah, it's all tight end even, you know, for the folks that are just running boats in the summer. Fuel cost is significantly, you know, more expensive than somewhere in town and things like that.

00;02;35;04 - 00;02;41;09 [Amanda Byrd] You had mentioned that you are also putting in hydro at one of your rental places.

00;02;41;12 - 00;03;52;25 [Zack Miller] I am. Yeah, I'm working on that right now. So it's, which is another reason why I can what Jim and the other community members for the effort they've put into our community hydro, is because of what I'm doing myself right now between state permits and easement and federal, you know, Ferc permit. It's a difficult process. You know, it's a lot, especially for somebody to take on it. Is it really you see those kind of, applications and things. So I just I applaud the community members that have put a lot of time into this. And it's definitely, it's fun. I mean, I don't mind paperwork, but it's a lot of paperwork. But, yeah, you know, my hopes are that, you know, the system that I'm working to put in is estimated to generate about to possibly 20, 25kW. So it's something that could definitely supplement our year round residents in the interim before possibly our town comes in. Because I hopefully will have mine going soon, maybe next couple of years. It could be really good for folks that are there now, and maybe before this big one gets going, because it's going to be quite the project when that gets rolling. So it's an awesome community to be in with everybody working together. You know, you're out in a small place on an island and everybody helps each other. That probably the main thing that I've noticed since I've been there. Zach

00;03;52;25 - 00;04;06;08 Miller is a community member and business owner from Elfin Cove, and I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. Find this story and more at uaf.edu/acep