Bernie Karl – Thinker, Innovator, and Doer

 

Bernie Karl was born the sixth of sixteen children and grew up on a farm in Peoria, Illinois. Bernie’s father was a world-class photographer for Caterpillar, the company that manufactures heavy construction and mining equipment and has its home base in Peoria. Bernie worked at Caterpillar until, at age 20, itchy feet and a dream of making it big had him venturing north to the Last Frontier, moving to Alaska during the pipeline boom of the 1970s.

 

Bernie and his wife purchased Chena Hot Springs Resort from the State of Alaska in 1998.   Bernie’s vision for the resort was to make the resort more environmentally friendly and use geothermal technology to power it.  An engineer was hired and they went to work. Patents were issued, new technology developed and new business partnerships formed, transforming Chena Hot Springs into a world-class resort.

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Today that vision not only provides heat and electricity for the resort, but also keeps the Aurora Ice Museum a cool 25 degrees Fahrenheit inside year-round. The geothermal heated greenhouses produce lettuce and tomatoes for the resort’s restaurant and over 45 employees on a year-round basis, with a few different types of fruit grown for good measure.

 

In addition, Mr. Karl and his team have completed four other electrical generation projects in Alaska at: Rig 141 Camp including two 300kW generators with waste heat recovery, Happy Horse Camp with three-500kW generators with waste heat recovery, co-generation on the Arctic Utilities grid, Denali North Star Inn is a 230 room facility with 4 power generation units available on-site, including a 1,000kW, 500kW, and twin 600kW units, all equipped with waste heat recovery, and Frontier Base Camp comprising two-250kW generators, and one 200kW generator. Also, Mr. Karl’s team brings broad experience and expertise in installing and operating Alaskan remote man-camps and constructing new roads, proficiency critical to the success of the remote construction projects.

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John P. Ziagos, PhD | Geophysics​

Geothermal Scientist for Ziagos Consulting, Inc.

 

Dr. Ziagos is a geothermal science consultant and has worked on several projects in Alaska. Duties include overall project scientific support, resource development, and project management support. Previously, John was a reviewer for DOE’s Geothermal Technology Office (GTO) for program and SBIR technical proposals and projects as well as DOE’s ARPAe, and technical publication journal Geothermics. He has organized and presented materials at the first Geothermal Energy Workshop in the Republic of Georgia at the request of Ilia State University’s Geoscience’s Department in March 2014 with a follow-up summer program for three weeks in Aug-Sep of the same year.

 

Before retirement he worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for 23 years in several high-responsibility positions including Science Advisor for GTO and Deputy Project Leader for Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Chief Scientist for GTO and Senior Science Advisor for Ground-Based Nuclear Detonation Detection Program in Washington D.C. While at LLNL John was Deputy Department Head for the Atmospheric, Earth, and Energy Department, responsible for achieving a vigorous energy and environment research portfolio through technical and business leadership of 200 scientists, engineers, technicians and administrative staff. Before that position John was the Superfund manager for 10 years at the LLNL’s main, Livermore Site and Site 300, a high-explosives test facility, successfully negotiating Record of Decisions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 

In his 30-year energy, environment and earth sciences career he has managed both large and small teams of scientists and engineers and worked for the University of California, the U.S. Geological Society (USGS), the U.S. Department of Energy, successful start-up companies (FINDER now owned by Schlumberger), and major energy corporations (BP/SOHIO). In addition, John managed the construction and operation of a $110M, 50MW geothermal power plant in southern California working for Geothermal Resources International. He has many years’ experiences in a variety of geotechnical field projects, including terrestrial heat flow studies in central Mexico, earthquake research at the USGS on the San Andreas Fault, geothermal and petroleum exploration and production in Alaska and the Gulf Coast. John’s technical expertise includes groundwater restoration and remediation, subsurface structural and stratigraphy analysis, petrophysics and interpolation/characterization methodologies specifically for reservoir modeling, with automated history matching. Dr. Ziagos holds a BS degree in mathematics and physics (1970) from Western Illinois University, and a PhD in geophysics (1983) from Southern Methodist University.

 

 

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David L Matthews – Business and Contracts Lead

 

Experienced Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the heavy construction industry. Skilled in project evaluation, estimating, labor management, project execution, due diligence studies, financial analysis, negotiation, construction litigation support, dispute resolution, leading organizations.

 

Mr. Matthew’s experience includes Vice President and General Manager of the Alaska Division of Price Gregory, International (PGI), an operating unit of Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR), he led significant Alaskan power plant and infrastructure construction projects. This included oil and gas process facilities, electrical generation facilities, and heavy industrial complexes, with responsibilities spanning EPC to bid build contract methods. Many projects have involved innovative methods for their managed completion and are in the category of efficient and renewable energy projects. Alaska-relevant projects to power generation and energy are listed below:

• ML&P Plant 2 expansions 2014 – 2017, Anchorage, AK. Efficient energy project. 120MW combined cycle with STG, GTG, and OSTG technologies.

• Golden Valley Electric Association, North Pole Power Plant Expansion — 2004-05, North Pole, Alaska. Efficient energy project. 58 MW combined cycle project using variety of fuels.

• Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA), Healy Clean Coal Project —1995-97. Innovative and efficient energy project. DOE clean coal technology program and demonstration project. 55MW utilizing TRW combustion technology using pulverized and dirty coal.

• Alaska Energy Authority (AEA), Bradley Lake Hydroelectric project 1989-1991. Renewable energy project. 90MW power using two Pelton wheel turbines at tidewater. Penstock from glacier feed lake above.

• US Army Corps of Engineers - Alaska District, Alter Central Heat & Power Plant Project, Eielson AFB, Alaska — 1986-88. Efficient energy project. 10MW steam turbine, upgrade control scheme in powerhouse.

 

David had Profit/Loss responsibility for the Alaska division of Price Gregory International. He has a comprehensive understanding how to communicate action plans, institute cost efficiency initiatives, manage internal employees, manage external customer relationships, and manage labor relationships.
 

In Addition, David has participated in over 20 project labor agreement (PLA) negotiations in Alaska. He was a lead negotiator in over 15 of those. He has extensive understanding and knowledge of the Alaska labor scene, its strengths and weaknesses.

Boards and organizations on which he has participated.
➢ North Slope Contractors Association – 30 years, President 15 years
➢ TransAlaska Pipeline Contractors Association – 30 years, Vice President 15 years.
➢ The Support Industry Alliance – Board member 12 years
➢ The Resource Development Council – Board Member 9 years
➢ Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center – Founding board member
➢ Alaska Vocational Technical Institute - 9 years
➢ Alaska Gas Line Inducement Act Training Program