Shore Power Pioneer Princess Cruises Celebrates 25 Years of Plugging in at Juneau

Twenty-five years ago, Princess Cruises helped transform the future of cruising in Alaska by becoming the first cruise line to connect a ship to Juneau’s hydroelectric shore power system. 

Today, that pioneering partnership continues to serve as a model for ports around the world while delivering lasting environmental and community benefits.

Since 2001, Princess Cruises, the City and Borough of Juneau and Alaska Electric Light & Power (AEL&P) have worked together to connect cruise ships to Juneau’s local hydroelectric power grid, allowing ships to shut down their engines while in port and significantly reduce emissions.

 What began as a groundbreaking initiative has since become a global best practice, inspiring shore power adoption at 41 cruise ports around the world. Sadly, while shore power is a vital part of the industry’s path to net zero GHG emissions from operations by 2050, those 41 ports represent just 3% of the world’s ports.

By the Numbers

• 25 years of shore power operations in Juneau.
• First cruise line to connect to shore power in Juneau (2001).
• Nearly 60 years sailing Alaska.
• 1,725 shore power connections.
• 123,668,490 million kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power used.
• 84,533.60 metric tons of emissions avoided.
• $11,242,400 in Community Partnership (COPA) credits benefiting the Juneau community.

“For 25 years, our partnership with the City and Borough of Juneau and Alaska Electric Light & Power has demonstrated what’s possible when industry, government and local communities work together toward a common goal,” said Gus Antorcha, President of Princess Cruises. 

“Together, we’ve helped pioneer a technology that has transformed cruise operations around the world while delivering meaningful environmental and community benefits in Alaska.”

A Partnership That Changed the Industry

Creating the world’s first shore power system in Juneau required vision, innovation and collaboration. Connecting large cruise ships to the city’s small, isolated hydroelectric grid was a complex undertaking that continues to stand as a remarkable engineering achievement. 

“We remain proud to be the port that pioneered shore power and of the ongoing public private partnership that made it happen,” said Beth Weldon, Mayor of the City and Borough of Juneau. “This is a great example of diverse parties coming together to do groundbreaking work and we look forward to future opportunities for collaboration to expand shore power in Juneau.”

Today, Carnival Corporation is the leader in being shore power-ready, with roughly 75% of its global fleet of over 90 ships equipped to plug into shoreside electricity, shut off engines in port and cut greenhouse gas and other emissions by up to 100% depending on the local energy mix.