**Title**: Energy in the North - Jen Schmidt
**Date**: April 16, 2025
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Jen Schmidt

00;00;00;27 - 00;00;04;03 [Jen Schmidt] A lot of the taxis are already hybrid in Bethel.

00;00;04;03 - 00;00;29;17 [Amanda Byrd] This week on Energy in the North, I speak with Jen Schmidt, associate professor of Natural Resource Management and Policy at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of 91ÊÓƵ, Anchorage. Jen is working with Michelle Wilber and collecting vehicle usage data in Galena and Kotzebue to better understand how, if at all, electric powered vehicles could replace gasoline and diesel powered vehicles, trucks, snow machines and even ATVs. And if those vehicles were replaced, how would it affect the power grid? I started the conversation by asking Jen how she collects that data.

00;00;52;19 - 00;01;16;01 [Jen Schmidt] Well, we had to get kind of creative here. We decided to use caribou collars. So GPS collars from the caribou, and we put them on vehicles and we chose those because they will work in the harsh conditions in the cold climates that's out there.
It's not real time data. The data is downloaded every few months and I process it and explore how people are using their vehicles. And so these just kind of operate independently. They can put them in the rear window of their cars. Some people have even drilled them onto their snow machines, but it was the least intrusive device and maintained some privacy for people.

00;01;16;06 - 00;01;20;10 [Amanda Byrd] So you have somebody collecting the information. 

00;01;20;10 - 00;01;40;16 [Jen Schmidt] So we wouldn't be able to do this process without community research leads. So the community research leads have helped us enroll 19 people to put these loggers on their vehicles. And then the community research lead meets up with a person once a month to take a survey asking them about how much fuel that you use. And then they will also connect to the devices and download that data and then send it on my way.

00;01;40;19 - 00;02;09;00 [Amanda Byrd] So I remember when I was in Bethel and I was in a taxicab and it was actually the owner of the taxicab and he was managing probably 20 or 30 different taxis in this remote community. And I think there are a lot of taxis in remote communities.

00;02;09;02 - 00;02;14;14 [Jen Schmidt] Bethel was part of a community in this project and we talked to taxi drivers in Bethel. A lot of the taxis are already hybrid in Bethel. I don't think full EVs would work for that purpose because they're using those vehicles too much. There's not enough downtime for them to charge. Just like with a lot of the food delivery places, say in Kotzebue, we talked to some people there.Those vehicles are constantly going. So that use case would not be good for an EV substitution.

00;02;31;24 - 00;02;53;25 [Amanda Byrd] You spoke about the power grid and the demands on the power grid from these vehicles.

00;02;53;27 - 00;03;16;26 [Jen Schmidt] We're trying to figure out would there be enough power generation giving the set up of the diesel generators and the renewable energy that the community has. If there isn't, we have to look at some type of cycle of when you should plug in your EVs, like giving discounts for people to say, plug it in at night when energy use might be less. So figuring out the timing and the amount and then what type of structure would work for that. The other, you know, huge thing that we learned is that there's no way to repair EVs. EVs are very special. You have high voltage under the hood. And so getting train mechanics into rural 91ÊÓƵ was something that was identified as a need. And so at UAA, we are starting up an EV training program and have scholarships for people from Rural Lessard come and participate in their EV training program that we're doing.

00;03;40;06 - 00;03;39;26 [Amanda Byrd] That's amazing.
Unknown

00;03;39;26 - 00;03;43;26 - [Jen Schmidt] I'm excited about it. I mean, you know, if they are the future, we want to be prepared. 

00;03;43;26 - 00;03;59;02 Jen Schmidt is an associate professor of natural resource management and policy at the Institute of Social and Economic Research. And I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the 91ÊÓƵ Center for Energy and Power. Find this story and more at uaf.edu/acep