Wrangell’s power infrastructure may be on the blink if left as it is, according to an electric system study presented in June.
Conducted by Juneau-area consultancy Electric Power Systems, the study identified a number of infrastructural needs Wrangell will need to focus on over the coming five years. The two largest problems it identified were the state of Wrangell’s utility poles and its backup power generation capabilities.
Most of the borough’s utility poles have reached or surpassed their life expectancy. Fifty percent are more than 40 years old, and an additional 30 percent of poles are over 30 years old. Age notwithstanding, a number of poles in the distribution system are overloaded, bearing telecom loads they were not meant to handle.
The study recommends a phased approach, due to the large number of poles needing replacement. A number of the new poles will also need to be upgraded to suit heavier conductors and attachments as they are needed.
Pole replacement will be a pricey process. Eighteen poles identified as needing replacement along Church Street would cost at least $85,000. Poles pushing an age of 50 years along Zimovia Highway could cost up to $150,000, and their replacement is ranked as high priority due to its connection to medical and public safety services. The line along Cow Alley may need to be replaced as well, which could cost $175,000.
The entire pole line along Case Avenue may also need to be moved and replaced, as it may be currently located within private property without the proper utility easements. Transformers and streetlights would need to be reinstalled, and the primary conductor replaced. The study expects the rebuild of the line would be complicated by its importance to local services, and in all could cost between $325,000 and $340,000 to fix.
Looking at the city’s power generation, the study anticipates an additional 2.5 to 3.5 megawatts of backup generation capacity will be needed to support demand. Yearly energy usage in Wrangell has doubled over the past decade, and peak demand – primarily due to heating and seafood processing – has tripled over the same timeframe. The remedy would be expensive: a 3 MW standby generator needed to fill this role is estimated to cost between $2.2 million and $2.7 million.
“We didn’t get to this situation overnight, and it’s not going to be fixed overnight,” said Wrangell Municipal Light and Power superintendent Clay Hammer.
He explained a previous system study was conducted in 2005, and the information available at that time had indicated a different set of priorities to focus on.
“There were other issues, other problems then coming down the pike,” Hammer said. The distribution system was a whole decade younger, and at the time utility poles were not as much of a concern.
One of the first steps the 2015 study recommended taking was to contract an updated rate case study, with information gathered since the last was conducted in 2010. But at its Nov. 10 regular meeting, the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly rejected such a proposal, feeling the $25,000 electrical rate case study to be too high an expense.
In retrospect, Hammer thinks a workshop explaining the system study’s findings beforehand might have been helpful. But even without an updated rate study, he will be meeting with Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch between now and the Assembly’s next meeting on Dec. 8 to identify the most critical items laid out in the study.
From there, Jabusch explained they should put together a year-by-year strategy to conduct the most necessary fixes first, along with likely expenditures.
“Some of those things we can do in-house. Some of those things we won’t be able to,” he said.
When it comes to raising rates, Hammer said Wrangell may not have much of an option. While its rates tend to be higher than other Southeast Alaska Power Authority communities Petersburg and Ketchikan, he pointed out those two communities have other power sources to draw on, such as Petersburg’s Blind Slough. The generator there provides 1.7 MW of power to the community, or around 25 percent of its total requirement.
“I don’t know that we can ever really compete with Petersburg or even Ketchikan, rate-wise,” Hammer commented.
However, Wrangell’s medium- and higher-volume rates are still lower than Juneau’s and, to an extent, Sitka’s. And while its Heat Rate Incentive Program encourages residents and businesses to switch over to electric heat, which is cheaper than oil, the program has also dramatically increased the community’s winter energy demand, exacerbating its other system concerns.
As another first step, the system study recommends ending the incentive program in addition to pursuing a rate study.
“We certainly don’t want to raise rates if we don’t have to,” said Jabusch. Whether it is necessary will depend first on if Wrangell Municipal Light and Power is able to add to its reserves enough to finance maintenance projects. Currently the department has better than $1.19 million in savings. The prospect will become more clear once the system study’s findings have been evaluated alongside budget projections.
“We’ll start on the different things that need to be addressed,” he said. From that they intend to develop a proposal to present to the Assembly at its Dec. 8 meeting.
Reader Comments(0)