Mission

Alaska Heat Smart grew from several related efforts that came together in 2019. In 2015 the Juneau Commission on Sustainability began developing the Juneau Renewable Energy Strategy to help implement the CBJ’s climate action plan (2011). One of its major recommendations was to replace oil with electricity for heating. In 2016 Renewable Juneau formed and began educating the community about air-source heat pumps.  

These groups came together in 2017 with AEL&P, area builders, and community climate action groups through the Juneau Economic Development Council Renewable Energy Cluster working group to explore opportunities in electrifying home heating.

This collaboration benefited from the assistance of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) in evaluating approaches that had worked elsewhere, and in developing a local program. It also benefited from the experience of participants in an Rocky Mountain Institute e-lab accelerator In spring of 2018 that AEL&P organized.   

The working group identified three major barriers standing between Juneau homeowners and heat pumps: a lack of reliable information, the upfront cost, and a limited local contractor market base.

Alaska Heat Smart was founded in 2019 to tackle these issues one by one. With limited funding from the City & Borough of Juneau in 2020, we started providing independent, no-cost home energy advice so homeowners could evaluate heat pumps with confidence and compare contractor bids. From there we built a low-interest financing program for heat pumps with True North Federal credit union and partnered with Cold Climate Housing Research Center, National Lab of the Rockies, Environmental and Energy Study Institute, and Rocky Mountain Institute to obtain DOE funding for the Thermalize Juneau group-purchase program. We also assisted in implementing Renewable Juneau’s Carbon Offset Fund, which raised private donations to install heat pumps in lower-income homes. We obtained funding for our first lower-income heat pump rebates through a Congressional Designated grant in 2022.  

Today, that same partnership-driven approach continues to grow: reliable home energy advice, good financing and incentives, contractor development, and programs now reaching beyond Juneau. What hasn’t changed is the goal: helping Alaska communities capture the savings, comfort, and climate benefits of efficient, electric-heated homes.