The Southeast Alaska Power Agency held a teleconference last week, on Feb. 15, to discuss the ongoing power issues in the region. The SEAPA Board of Directors is made up of community members from the three cities: Two directors from Ketchikan, one from Petersburg, one from Wrangell, and a fifth seat that alternates between the cities (which belongs to Ketchikan this year.)
The lights are usually kept on in the cities of Wrangell and Petersburg via hydropower from Tyee Lake. However, sometimes power from the lake is sold to Ketchikan, when the power agency feels there is enough to share.
Due to unusually dry weather, Tyee Lake has not been able to refill adequately, and SEAPA recently reported that there was not enough power to go around. In response, Wrangell and Petersburg are using diesel power to help solve “peaking” issues, as the demand from the two communities exceeds Tyee’s supply.
Ketchikan has switched to diesel as well to pay back the power SEAPA oversold them.
The conference opened with a review of the outlook in the near future and current lake levels. The weather forecast still looks to be dry in the next few weeks, according to SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson, but spring is around the corner. Temperatures are warming, albeit slowly, but warmer weather will allow snow to melt and begin refilling Tyee and Swan Lake.
As of Feb. 15, Tyee Lake’s water level sat at 1,265.2 feet. Swan Lake, another lake SEAPA draws power from, sits at 284.3 feet. Acteson said that both lakes are roughly five feet above their draft limit. He suggested that the board consider lowering the draft limits another five feet. There was some concern among the Ketchikan board members about that issue. Should their diesel generators fail, they said, they would need that extra water for power. Lisa Von Bargen, Wrangell Borough Manager and alternate voting member of the board, also stated some concerns of using even more lake water in the driest part of the year. Robert Lynn, the board member from Petersburg, agreed that lowering the draft level did not seem like a good idea. He said that not enough data had been collected to decide whether it was necessary to draft below the current limit at Tyee. Acteson said it may become necessary, but there should be enough water for the next week or so. Von Bargen reiterated previously stated concerns from several board members that the main fear with drafting too much water was that it could leave all the communities without a backup, should their generators fail.
Board member and Wrangell Mayor Steve Prysunka added in the meeting that his city has never received a formal request from SEAPA to switch to full diesel power, only “suggestions” that they do so.
He explained in a short interview that according to the power sale agreement between Wrangell and SEAPA, the city must purchase power from them. Should they switch to diesel power without a direct request, they are still required to pay for the hydropower that was not purchased. On top of that, he added, SEAPA needs to ensure a unified response from all the communities and can’t have them switching between hydro and diesel on a whim.
The formal request to switch to diesel power appeared the next day, on Feb. 16. Both Wrangell and Petersburg activated two diesel generators, creating four megawatts of power each, he said. Prysunka added that the three communities would be coming together to discuss how to offset the additional costs of running diesel in the two northern towns without putting a burden on their towns’ residents.
The board met for a second teleconference on Monday, Feb. 18. Acteson said that they were not expecting any inflows into the lakes in the next 10 days, at least not enough to fix any problems. With the diesel use currently seen in Petersburg and Wrangell, he added that the two communities were offsetting about a third of their power needs. He asked if they could increase that to half or more. As much of the load as they could bear would be helpful, he said. Lisa Von Bargen said that Wrangell and Petersburg would have to meet together to discuss how best to get as close to that suggested goal as was practical.
Ketchikan board member Karl Amylon said that he would be willing to vote in favor of lowering the draft limit of Swan Lake to 278 feet, and also said that anything above 280 feet he felt would only be fair to share equally with the two northern communities. Lynn said that sounded fair, but he wanted to know what the outlook was for the foreseeable future. After some further discussion, a vote was called and the proposal was adopted.
The board agreed to talk again next Monday, sooner in the event of an emergency.
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