The Southeast Alaska Power Agency, representing the communities of Wrangell, Petersburg, and Ketchikan, decided to postpone a reimbursement plan to its two northern communities in their last meeting.
Petersburg and Wrangell took on additional costs to keep the lights on in their towns over the past months, which they felt SEAPA should compensate them for. In a brief summary of recent events, Wrangell and Petersburg both receive hydropower from Tyee Lake. Due to dry weather last year, however, water levels in the lake were low. SEAPA also sold some hydropower to Ketchikan, which was also dealing with its own power issues. The water levels in both Tyee Lake and Swan Lake, where Ketchikan usually draws its hydropower, neared their draft limits. To conserve what water was left in the lakes, Wrangell and Petersburg switched to diesel power from Feb. 15 to March 28.
According to documents provided by Steve Prysunka, mayor of Wrangell and SEAPA board member, the board of directors agreed to reimburse Wrangell and Petersburg for the use of their diesel generators on Feb. 28. The money for reimbursement would come out as a reduction in SEAPA's revenue. According to the document, Wrangell spent a total $564,163 in diesel and overtime costs. Petersburg spent $754,055.
The document goes on to explain that the final cost of the reimbursement would be minus the 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour of power the two communities typically pay for hydropower. As there was a little over 7 million kWh generated between the two towns, the final total of the reimbursement package comes out to $841,786. Wrangell will receive $358,555, according to the document, and Petersburg will receive $483,231.
"That covers the cost of diesel, and overtime," said SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson.
However, in their most recent board meeting this week, the SEAPA board decided to postpone the payment. Acteson explained that the board had a tentative agreement to reimburse the communities, but no formal action had been taken yet. He said that they wanted to clear the situation with auditors first. He did say, however, that the public can anticipate formal action to be taken by the board soon, in their next meeting. The next SEAPA board meeting is scheduled for June, he said, but it is likely the board will hold an emergency meeting before then.
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