Green energy, that is.

“We're currently working on a green energy plan with Mat-Su Energy,” he said. “This will make us the first radio station in Alaska to broadcast under solar and wind energy. The goal is to offset our electric bill and perform an energy audit that should save us thousands the first year. We're calling it an energy diet.”

Klapperich said that by 2009, he plans to have KMBQ-FM, broadcasting from the Parks Highway near downtown Wasilla, powered mainly by solar and wind turbine.

“Green is just part of my mission statement,” said Klapperich, president and general manager of the Spirit of Alaska Broadcasting Corp., an Alaskan-owned and -operated radio station manned around the clock. “I'll have LED lights on my wind turbine, shining on my building. I want a little power pack, to say the energy here is being produced by the wind and sun in the Mat-Su Valley.”

Klapperich, who has been in business in the Valley for 30 years, already attracts a lot of attention to his station with a large marquee in front of the building on a busy stretch of the Parks Highway.

He hopes his example will start a trend, encouraging more people to look to alternative energy sources.

“It will take time,” he said. “I want every business and home to consider it, to get educated and then make a decision. That's all my job is, to have people consider that.”

As an active booster of the Mat-Su business community, including service as president of the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, Klapperich said he anticipates he'll be able to educate a lot of business people and other radio listeners. He points to a poll conducted in February by an Anchorage public opinion research firm that showed more than 42 percent of radio listeners in the Valley tuned in to his station.

Klapperich also owns Anchorage radio station KBYR-AM, on which he will also promote green energy. Between Q99.7 Valley radio and AM 700 (KBYR), he figures he reaches 70 percent of the potential radio audience in Alaska. KBYR is also the only radio station broadcasting entirely in English on the North Slope, he said.

As an added incentive, Klapperich said he plans to offer a discount for advertisers on his radio station if they pledge to go green.

“If they will attempt to go 10 percent green, they get 10 percent off on advertising,” Klapperich said. And he will match that commitment up to 40 percent, he added.

Starting May 1, the 51,000-watt station will also offer listeners a new feature, the Green Minute, 60 seconds of points and tips on how to save energy and go green. Klapperich said he plans to display the station's electric and natural gas bills on the station's Web site too, to show everyone how much money can be saved by adding alternative energy into the mix.

“Anything I do, I want to be able to pay for in seven years,” said Klapperich. While he's still calculating the costs, Klapperich is hoping federal and state grants and other incentive programs will be available to cover part of those costs.

Meanwhile, KMQB-FM is working with George Sikat's Mat-Su Energy Inc. to plan the details of installing solar power panels and wind turbines.

Sikat, an Air Force veteran whose forte is media management and marketing, has also worked in video production, studio operations and stage management in New York City and Alaska. Sikat said he's equally excited about the plan, which will give the station the back-up power to operate if electric power goes down.

While the idea of back-up power exists for most stations in Alaska, offsetting the electric bills with wind and solar is new and will soon be affordable, Sikat said.

“Q99 will be the first station under contract to have wind and solar installed on site,” he said. “I do feel this may inspire not just other radio stations, but also banks, city buildings, federal buildings and home owners.”

Sikat also sees the manufacturing and fabrication of wind turbines and solar panels in the Mat-Su Borough as essential to the success of any renewable energy project in Alaska.

“The central location, wind production, road accessibility, rail belt accessibility, job growth potential and many industrial properties to choose from along the Parks Highway are some of the reasons that we have chosen the Valley,” he said. “What's great is that additional panels can be added as needed.”

The public will be invited to visit and watch parts of the installation, another event that Klapperich and Sikat hope to turn into an educational experience.

“During these small events, we will answer questions and provide some play by play of the process,” Sikat said. “Interaction and community support and growing confidence in green energy is our goal.”

Beyond the effort to help KMBQ go green, Sikat hopes to promote more use of alternative energy in residential communities by encouraging developers of new residential areas to consider using solar and possibly wind power to offset a community's energy needs.