October 15, 2026

By Lisa Abelar

When retirement rolled around, Paul Reichardt and his wife didn’t follow the standard route that many of their neighbors in Fairbanks, Alaska chose. Jetting off somewhere warm and sunny didn’t really appeal to them. So, they stayed in their adopted hometown, where Reichardt serves as the head of stewardship and finance for First Presbyterian Church. 

“We aren’t fit to live anywhere else,” Reichardt said. “We’re here. We’re staying here.”

By staying, Reichardt was able to help bring to life a cost-saving energy solution that, until recently, many people in the area didn’t believe was worth the trouble. The journey to install a solar array on the church actually began several years ago following a donation from a congregation member, but implementing the plan began in earnest in 2025. 

“It really became a priority of the facilities group at the church,” he said. “At that point, we decided to commit a significant amount of our reserve money to add to the donation.”

The total for the array and installation came to $96,000. Since the church was working with a $15,000 donation earmarked for a solar purchase, the total came down to $81,000. And then the church learned of federal tax rebates, made available through the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by the Biden Administration, which would bring the cost down even more.

Minus expenses, the federal rebate allowed the church to put $21,000 back into its reserves. Coupled with ongoing savings on its electric bill, the financial picture for the church significantly improved at a time when energy prices in the area were about to increase. 

Golden Valley Electric Association, the member-owned utility that provides electricity to Fairbanks, introduced its largest ever rate hike just as First Presbyterian experienced its first summer with solar. Reichardt is keeping track of the savings. 

This June, the church’s electric bill was nearly $1,000 less than the previous June. And for July, the bill was just $200 in total. Prior to the solar installation, Reichardt said the church would budget about $20,000 annually for electricity. Before the rate hike, Reichardt estimated the solar array would save the church at least $7,000 in electricity costs for the year.

While exact savings are still unclear, as calculations were taken before the rate hike, Reichardt said the fact that there will be considerable savings is already clear.

“There’s always been the question of, if you get nothing out of your solar system from October to May, do they really pay?” Reichardt said, referring to Alaska’s short days during the winter months. “Turns out, they really pay.”

The savings brings down operational costs for the church, which then allows the church to bolster its services to the community. It’s a pretty busy spot, located right downtown.

On Wednesdays, the church offers hot meals to unhoused and low-income individuals. About 70 people attend every week. Programming for elementary students is also held at the church on Wednesday afternoons. The church also serves as a distribution point for the local food bank and hosts meetings about topics that are vital to the community, most recently a town hall-type discussion on overnight housing options for the unhoused during the winter. 

First Presbyterian Church has been a fixture in the community since it was founded in the early 1900s.

“We have long considered ourselves an important part of the downtown community,” Reichardt said. “We have a number of projects that are really community oriented out of the church’s understanding of our obligation and our opportunities. The point is, we have a big outreach commitment to the community.”

A few years ago, the church decided to hire a staff member to expand its youth programming, with the hope that the investment would increase church membership. It didn’t work out as planned, and several outreach initiatives had to be pared back to balance the budget. The savings the church is seeing with solar, along with increased giving from congregation members, has allowed the church to ramp its outreach back up to where it was.

“That’s an immediate example of what we can do because of increased giving and savings from solar,” he said. “Who knows in the future where that might show up, but it certainly will be reinvested in other programs of the church.”

And as for any lingering skepticism about the efficacy of solar in Fairbanks, that’s pretty much gone by the wayside, Reichardt said. Another church nearby is in the design process for a solar array, and First Presbyterian hosted a meeting over the summer with representatives from other nearby churches that wanted to learn about solar. 

“There are always going to be some people who are skeptical about change,” Reichardt said. “I would say the skepticism is going away. There were plenty of people who were enthused about it. We thought it was the right thing to do for the church.”