The public is invited to a town hall meeting on May 6 to learn about the regional power agency’s plans to improve the reliability of the electrical grid and meet increasing demand for power.

The meeting, scheduled by the borough assembly, will include information from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA), which operates the Tyee Lake hydroelectric project for Wrangell and Petersburg and the Swan Lake hydro power project in Ketchikan.

The meeting will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at the Nolan Center,

The borough’s meeting notice said the topic will be “SEAPA Grid Reliability and Stability Project in Wrangell.” The notice on the borough website provided no additional information as of April 27.

In a report for the March 24 borough assembly meeting, Borough Manager Mason Villarma explained: “The borough continues to work closely with SEAPA on a series of capacity, resiliency and grid stability improvements to support existing demand and future industrial growth.”

A contractor “was recently in Wrangell to evaluate upgrades to the SEAPA switchyard, and SEAPA has committed to funding these improvements to ensure sufficient power delivery to the 6-Mile Mill site as it transitions to heavy industrial use.”

The borough is working with JAG Marine Group in hopes that the company will build a shipyard at 6-Mile. City Hall also is pursuing additional industrial development of the 42-acre former sawmill property which the borough purchased in 2022 for $2.5 million.

Bob Lynn, of Petersburg, president of the SEAPA board, listed several steps the agency is taking to improve its ability to meet growing demand for power in the three communities it serves.

Installation of a third generator at the Tyee Lake power station should be completed by next year, he said. The third unit will boost the plant’s maximum output capacity by 50%, helping to avoid turning to expensive, diesel-fueled power generators at peak demand on cold winter days.

The agency also needs to upgrade its main transformer in Wrangell. “The current one coming into town doesn’t have the capacity” to meet growing demand, Lynn said, particularly if the 6-Mile Mill property is developed for a shipyard or other industrial use.

Similarly, SEAPA needs a new substation in Ketchikan to meet increasing demand for power, he said.

Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg are seeing about 3% annual growth in demand for electricity, Lynn said.

Much of the demand growth is coming from homes and businesses that convert from diesel-fueled furnaces to electric heat pumps, he said. “That is really accelerating in these three communities.”

SEAPA also is looking at adding additional generation capacity powered by the sun to supplement its power from water spinning a turbine.

Last September, Villarma reported to the assembly that the “SEAPA administration and the borough have been working collaboratively on a solar energy project here in Wrangell.”

“The SEAPA board has approved a $6 million new generation project to be located in Wrangell,” he reported to the assembly in March. “The borough is actively coordinating with SEAPA on the project’s size, scope and schedule as planning advances. SEAPA will present further details to the community at a May 6 town hall at the Nolan Center.”

Villarma further explained in his March report: “The project aims to expand energy capacity for the grid and displace potential diesel generation during peak loading cycles or when maintenance activities are occurring.”

Federal financial aid in the form of tax credits could be available for a solar power installation, he said in his report.