A power outage on June 13 came as a bit of a surprise to the community, turning off the juice across the island for more than half an hour.
The unplanned cut came as technicians at Wrangell Municipal Light and Power were testing their diesel generators, ahead of the planned diesel run beginning Monday. The office explained some difficulties had been encountered while firing up one of the generators, taking the system offline.
Power went out to all four of the island’s feeders during the midafternoon. The outage was relatively brief, with power returning after about 40 minutes.
Acting electrical superintendent since mid-May, Jim Nelson was hopeful there would be no further blackouts during this week’s planned diesel run. The weeklong run is typically held before the start of summer each year to allow Southeast Alaska Power Agency time to turn down its hydroelectrical facilities at Tyee and Swan lakes for annual maintenance projects.
The power demand is generally at its lowest during the spring and in the fall, during the lull between the seafood processing and wintertime heating seasons. The diesel run has sometimes been held in the fall rather than in June, as was the case last year during a brief strike by Wrangell city workers, ahead of the July 4 festivities. SEAPA rescheduled its planned outage due to concerns WMLP would lack the staff necessary to keep the diesel generators operating.
SEAPA’s dams are expected to come back online by Saturday. Until then, during this week’s diesel run residents are advised to conserve power as best as they can. The process expends a considerable amount of fuel, the cost differential of which ends up appearing on utility users’ bills as a surcharge. In the meantime, staff will be at work keeping the lights on in town.
“We’re going to do our best not to have an outage,” said Nelson.
Reader Comments(0)