Webinar: HYDROPOWER PLANNING IN ALASKA: DOES CLIMATE CHANGE MATTER?

HYDROPOWER PLANNING IN ALASKA: DOES CLIMATE CHANGE MATTER?

Jessie Ellen Cherry, International Arctic Research Center & Institute
of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks

The supply, demand, and price for hydroelectric power can be strongly
influenced by climatic factors such as temperature, precipitation, and
water storage by the environment. The climate, in turn, is driven by
both natural variability (on a variety of timescales) and
anthropogenic forcing. For planning water resource management here in
Alaska, particularly for long-lived, large infrastructure projects, it
is useful to understand the sources of uncertainty in climate
projections and how they influence long-term and short-term
decision-making. A case study in Southeast Alaska is described, where
most of Alaska’s hydropower facilities are concentrated. Challenges to
assessing the regional impacts of climate change here are discussed,
as well as our interpretation of the historical record of climate
variability. Our analysis concludes that understanding and accounting
for natural modes of variability may be as important as planning for
long-term climate change when it comes to managing existing hydropower
facilities and planning new infrastructure.

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