Shelter Island councilman headed to Alaska

Councilman Benjamin Dyett will be bound for Fairbanks, Alaska, to attend a Department of Energy Annual Conference on Energy Transitions scheduled for Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Mr. Dyett will be joining representatives from many island communities interested in exploring sustainable energy solutions. When the opportunity was raised at a recent Green Options Committee meeting, Mr. Dyett said he was the only person in the room to indicate an interest in going to Alaska at this time.

Because Shelter Island is participating in the Department of Energy’s ETIPP (Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project) initiative, he will be reimbursed for his travel expenses. ETIPP isn’t a grant program, but a program offering technical assistance to remote and island communities to help them transform their dependence on non-renewable energy sources to sustainable sources.

The Island Institute based in Maine is paying for the trip, Mr. Dyett said. He will be joining representatives at the conference from Block Island, R.I., and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, both in Massachusetts.

His interest in making the trip is the Island’s dependence for its electricity, most of which comes from an underwater cable from the North Fork and, to a lesser degree, another underwater cable from the South Fork.

That the electric cables can’t provide sustainable power worries him, Mr. Dyett has said. He hopes to learn more about the potential of solar energy and the possibility of solar panels that could be placed at the Recycling Center and the Center Firehouse.

The councilman promises a full report on the conference upon his return to the Island.