Power research to be unveiled this week
Results of a nearly three-year collaborative research study of energy opportunities and challenges in Flathead County will be released Thursday, Oct. 6, at Flathead Valley Community College.
The Re-Powering the Flathead for a New Energy Economy project will host the report release event from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at FVCC’s Arts & Technology Building, Room 139. The event is free and open to the public.
The report showcases numerous success stories of local businesses, local governments and homeowners who have realized significant cost savings, greater energy independence, or even job and new business creation as a result of their involvement in emerging energy opportunities in the Flathead.
The presentation will include an overview of the report’s findings and its value as an extensive resource tool for realizing energy savings or in tapping into opportunities in the new energy economy.
New energy “pioneers” in the Flathead, who are featured in the report’s local success section on success stories, also will be on hand to give brief updates on their projects and will be available to visit with at the end of the program when light refreshments will be served.
Lauren Casey, author of the report, joined the Re-Powering the Flathead team in October 2010 as part of the Montana Energy Corps program. She grew up in Somers, where she developed a passion for stewardship through a childhood spent almost entirely outdoors.
She graduated in 2006 from Stanford University with a master’s degree in engineering with an emphasis on energy, and spent the next four years working as a consultant helping cities, utilities, and private-sector clients implement renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
Casey joined the Energy Corps as an opportunity to bring some of her experience home to serve Montana and also to learn about and promote strategies to help her community become healthier and more resilient.
The primary goal of the Re-Powering report is to provide information to decision-makers in the Flathead Valley about current and future opportunities in energy use, and to position decision-makers to harness opportunities as they arise.
The Re-Powering the Flathead steering committee, which supervised the research, design, and production of the report, included Diane Yarus, owner of Air Works; Paul McKenzie, lands and resources manager of F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber; Ross Holter, energy services supervisor at Flathead Electric Cooperative; Mayre Flowers, executive director of Citizens for a Better Flathead; Janet Morrow, executive producer of FUEL; Laura Damon, Green Team, FVCC; and Michelle Tafoya, a clean energy consultant.
The 116-page report benefited from input by a diverse group of dozens of stakeholders from the local community who came together to provide input to the report.
A limited number of hard copies of the report will be printed. Call 756-8993 to reserve a copy. An electronic version of the full report will be published after Oct. 6 and accessible online at www.repoweringtheflathead.org.