PORT TOWNSEND — Advocates of alternative-energy options are looking to Port Townsend as an incubator for new ideas.
Residents are more open than those in many other areas to trying something new, said Dana Lee, a consultant with the Energy Tech Council in Salem, Ore., on Friday at a Local 20/20 seminar on alternative-energy possibilities attended by about 50 people at the Northwest Maritime Center.
“Port Townsend can provide an example for the rest of the county in the use of alternative-energy programs,” Lee said.
“Because there is an educated local citizenry and a PUD that will require some action” — referring to the Jefferson County Public Utility District, which plans to provide electrical power locally — “there is an impetus to do something rather than say, ‘This is so complicated. What are we going to do?’ which is the standard citizen response,” she said.
“There is something happening here, so my team believes that Port Townsend will become a model that we can replicate in towns across the country, first in the Northwest where conditions are right, and then elsewhere.”
Lee’s team includes Bonneville Environmental Foundation President Angus Duncan, who made a presentation about different energy alternatives and how they apply to the area.
Local 20/20 is a citizen organization that explores opportunities for “economic self-reliance, environmental stewardship, and community well-being,” according to its website, www.l2020.org.
Steve Hamm of Local 20/20 has coordinated regular energy seminars on the second Friday of every month.
“There are great opportunities for a greater degree of energy self-reliance in Jefferson County,” Hamm said.
“The goal is to engage local cities in the process and get people to make alternative-energy investments.”
Hamm is hoping to create a “trickle-up” effect, where innovation is sponsored by small communities and is incorporated by the government rather than government-imposed regulations controlling energy practices.
Duncan said he was impressed by the energy awareness level in Port Townsend.
“I can’t think of a place that has such a wide array of choices for local energy,” Duncan said.
“Twenty or 30 years from now, when we look at this community, you or your kids will say this is one place that really got the idea of transformational change and understand that if it is done right, it has huge upsides.”
Duncan said alternative-energy systems often have unexpected benefits, pointing to the projected increase of electric-car purchases.
Since electric cars have large batteries, this has the result of distributing energy resources to many locations rather than having it stored in one place.
“The old model is for you to go to the electric company whenever you need more power,” he said.
“If everyone has an electric car that is storing power, we all become part of the grid.”
Also attending the event was a group of about 20 Port Townsend High School students.
“We learned about what types of renewable energy we can use locally and how important it is to conserve and manage our energy and efficiency, ” said Juhi LaFuente, a junior.
LaFuente said the event made her more aware of ways to increase household energy efficiency.
“This made me want to investigate further,” she said.
Planning alternative-energy strategies is a combination of immediate action and long-term planning, Duncan said.
“Most of us are thinking of the here and now,” he said.
“What we need are people who are eyeballing the horizon and the space on the other side of it.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.