91̽�� leads AI project to strengthen Alaska's rural power grids

Water flowing over a dam. — Photo by Amanda Byrd/ACEP
Water flows over Cordova Electric Cooperative’s Power Creek dam, part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric system that uses an inflatable, adjustable barrier to divert water into the power generating plant.

August 11, 2026
By Yuri Bult-Ito

A new energy research project led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a $725,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The AURORA-AI project, short for Alaska Utility Resilience and Optimization using Real-time AI, will use advanced artificial intelligence to improve electric power systems serving rural and coastal communities.

Remote microgrids face unique operational challenges because they must continuously balance electricity supply and demand without the support of larger interconnected power grids. Several factors add to their challenges. They include the growing use of distributed energy resources (energy generated close to where they are used), battery storage and emerging large electrical loads such as edge data centers (small data centers located close to the edge of a network).

The project brings together researchers from the 91̽�� Alaska Center for Energy and Power, Colorado State University, the National Laboratory of the Rockies and Cordova Electric Cooperative to develop next-generation AI tools for Alaska’s remote islanded microgrids — the electric systems that power many remote communities across Alaska.

AURORA-AI will combine high-resolution utility data, physics-based digital twins (virtual replicas of the power grid), and state-of-the-art AI to help utilities forecast demand, detect abnormal operating conditions, optimize energy resources and support real-time operational decisions.

“AURORA-AI brings together artificial intelligence with decades of real-world utility data and advanced power-system modeling to help Alaska’s remote and islanded communities operate more reliable, resilient and affordable electric grids,” said ACEP’s Richard Wies, principal investigator for the project and a professor at 91̽��.

With over 200 remote microgrids, Alaska is one of the ideal environments for microgrid research. As the lead institution, ACEP will oversee the project and lead development of the data infrastructure, digital twin integration and overall system demonstration. Researchers at ACEP will work with faculty, research professionals and graduate students to develop and validate the AI platform.

The project is expected to improve forecasting accuracy, reduce diesel fuel consumption and strengthen the resilience of isolated power systems.

“Alaska’s isolated power systems provide an ideal environment for developing and testing next-generation technologies that can improve electric grid resilience,” Wies said.

In addition to benefiting Alaska communities, the technologies developed through AURORA-AI are designed to be scalable for use by rural communities, island power systems and other small generation and storage systems.

“While developed for the unique challenges of Alaska, the tools and technologies from this project have the potential to benefit remote and isolated power systems around the world,” Wies said.

The award is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s , one of the nation’s most ambitious efforts to use AI to transform energy and scientific discovery and national security.