Chugach staff and board members discussed the Fire Island Wind (FIW) project with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm last month. Sec. Granholm was touring Alaska looking at renewable energy projects that could benefit from federal funding when she included a visit to Kincaid Park with an across Cook Inlet view of Fire Island.

Chugach Executive Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs Arthur Miller, Board Chair Rachel Morse, Board Vice-Chair Bettina Chastain, and CIRI President & CEO Sophie Minich gave the Secretary an overview of the wind project and its role in the overall energy portfolio. FIW supplies roughly 2% of Chugach’s total retail load, and the annual energy output is equivalent to the energy use of about 6,500 homes.

Chugach employees continue to support local non-profits through our Employee Volunteer Program. Cortney Bramwell, a member services representative, has been volunteering with Alaska's Long Term Care Ombudsman program. Cortney helps by listening to residents and working with staff to solve problems. Chugach offers up to 16 hours a year for full-time employees to volunteer at a favorite non-profit during the normal workday.

A Soldotna resident is thankful after the quick action of two linemen who helped him after an accident on the Seward Highway in March. John Miley sent a letter of praise to Chugach’s CEO outlining the help he received from linemen Travis Schultz and Brett Ekstrand after his pickup hit a patch of black ice and rolled near Tern Lake. Mr. Miley writes that the Chugach linemen helped him out of his truck, cleaned up the vehicle parts from the highway, retrieved his personal belongings from the truck, called emergency responders, and invited him to wait in the Chugach vehicle until help arrived.

With his wife out of state and friends at work, Mr. Miley says, “Frankly, I don’t know what I would have done without them.” He added, “It goes to show that there are still a lot of good people around.” Ultimately, the Chugach linemen drove Mr. Miley home after the accident. A retired dentist, he added, “These two are absolutely the best. I hope you remember their names because employees just don’t get any better than these two.”

Thank you to Mr. Miley for writing to Chugach about the accident. We are proud and appreciative of the kind and quick actions of our employees.

Chugach employees spread out across three of our work sites picking up trash as part of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Citywide Cleanup program.  We enjoy taking part in this annual tradition of sprucing up the city for summer.