Tree downs power across SEAPA network

Power went down across three Southeast communities Tuesday morning, after a downed tree cut lines in Ketchikan.

“Evidently there was some wind or storm action,” said Clay Hammer, superintendent of Wrangell Municipal Light and Power.

Three sections of transmission line were taken down in the Ward Cove area just before 7 a.m., and with them the entire connection between the three primary communities serviced by the Southeast Alaska Power Agency. The two Swan Lake units went down as a result of the disruption, as did the feed from Tyee Lake, which services Petersburg and Wrangell.

A limited outage in Wrangell had already been planned for that morning, lasting from 5 to 7 a.m. While Wrangell Municipal Light and Power was installing a new power pole near Alpine Mini Mart, service was temporarily down in parts of Panhandle Trailer Court, AICS Clinic, Alaska Housing, Shtax-heen Circle, Pine Street, the Public Safety Building and neighboring residences.

“That was Feeder 3, and that went according to plan,” said Hammer. His crew had just re-energized the section when the whole system shut down. Efforts were made to start up the town’s backup diesel generators.

“It took a little bit of time to get all sectionalized,” said Hammer. “As luck would have it, Tyee and the hydro folks had it up first.”

Wrangell was the first community to come back online, at approximately 7:30 a.m. Petersburg’s power was restored about a half-hour later.

Ketchikan Public Utilities quickly implemented a three-phase scenario in order to bring power back to its community. Crews were able to power up the south end of the city using generators shortly after the outage, powering up the northern end by thirds through the morning.

Replacement of the downed lines was completed by 1 p.m., but service to the Ward Cove area was not resumed until later that afternoon.