GOLD RUSH:

Alaskan oil production has fallen in recent times and the state is gradually embracing renewables, with 31 percent of its electricity generation coming from renewables, comparable to solar-power-rich Massachusetts. The shift toward cleaner energy is happening on an industrial scale, but also in people's homes, where heat pumps are beginning to take the place of fossil-fuel-guzzling furnaces. Air source heat pumps use a refrigerant to absorb heat from the outdoor air, which then gets passed on to rooms in a house or a hot water supply. 

Some Alaskans are pushing air source heat pumps to their limits, running them even when outdoor temperatures plummet to nearly -30 degrees Fahrenheit (-34.4 Celsius). 

Andy Romanoff, the executive director of Juneau-based nonprofit Alaska Heat Smart, estimates that there are about 2,000 heat pumps covering roughly 15 percent of the city, a number that he expects to grow. "We do see a 10 to 15 percent, maybe even 20 percent, increase year-after-year in the number of permits that are being applied for," he says. 

Heat pump installers in Alaska recommended by Heat Smart also say demand for the devices is rising. One installer, Mark Houston, describes a spike in inquiries about heat pumps at the beginning of 2023, more than the number of inquiries he'd received for the whole of 2022. Another, Kris Karsunky, says he installs between 50 and 70 heat pumps a year but fields twice that many requests via phone. Businesses are increasingly adopting the technology, too, he adds.

Juneau gets most of its electricity from lakes that offer a clean hydropower resource. This means that it is particularly ecofriendly to install electrified heating systems in the city.

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