Eric Huntington built his dream cabin nestled in the wilderness of central Alaska, eventually raising two daughters there. But over the years, he learned that living in this quiet, remote village came with a hefty cost.
Every year, the Huntington family spent about $7,000 on diesel to heat the cabin during bone-chilling winters, and a few years back, a power outage at the town's diesel plant left residents freezing in minus 50 F (about minus 45 C). When power finally returned hours later, water pipes had frozen, leaving about two dozen homes without running water for days.
