Residents asked to conserve power during diesel run

The city’s annual switch-over to diesel power is scheduled to begin next week, lasting just under two weeks.

Electrical superintendent Clay Hammer explained the temporary transition is to allow Southeast Alaska Power Agency – a

utility providing hydroelectric power to the communities of Wrangell, Ketchikan and Petersburg – to undertake maintenance projects on

its infrastructure. While those lines are down, it falls on municipalities to generate their own power during the interim, with Wrangell Municipal Light and Power firing up its diesel generators. The shutdown is scheduled to begin on Monday, continuing through June 30.

As fuel for the generators runs at a higher cost than that generated at the Swan and Tyee facilities, utility users can expect to see a diesel surcharge on their electrical bills. To lessen overall costs, WMLP recommends that homeowners be mindful of how much electricity they use. The diesel run occurs just before seafood production picks up for the summer and when the days are at their longest for the year, both advantageous to that end.

To keep the run at the forefront of residents’ minds, Hammer said his department will be partnering with radio station KSTK with

daily updates on the borough’s power usage, as well as the progress of SEAPA’s ongoing maintenance.

Last year SEAPA staff had their hands full with a project to raise the level of Swan Lake’s dam, with a number of system wide

maintenance projects and the corresponding diesel run deferred for the summer. “Now they’ve got to double up on that this year,” Hammer explained.

Among the agency’s projects will be marker ball placement along the southern Tyee line, an at times harrowing job that requires use of helicopters and being comfortable with heights.

“It’s not for the faint at heart,” Hammer commented.Wrangell’s utility workers will meanwhile be focused on running the generators at the power house, diverted from their own ongoing projects. Work on replacing the poles and resetting the lines along Cow Alley are about complete. A line crew has been working on shifting the lines over to new poles, with telecommunications companies to reset their own lines soon.

“It’s really coming along,” said Hammer.

In-house work and cooperation on the part of homeowners along the alley have made the project run more smoothly, he added, and a considerable savings – perhaps up to $100,000, compared to engineering estimates – is anticipated by its end. Once the telecom lines have been taken down from the old poles, Hammer said his staff will begin removing them from the alley.