New generator moved into power plant

The Wrangell Municipal Light & Power Department spent most of their day last Thursday, Sept. 19, moving one of their new generators into the power plant. Wrangell recently purchased two generators from the city of Nome to reinforce the department's power generation capabilities.

Rod Rhoades, director, said that all of the city's generators are basically the "plan B" for emergency power. Wrangell's power needs sit between 8-9 megawatts, he said. The borough typically draws its power from Tyee Lake, as part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency. Diesel generator runs have become necessary in recent months, however, due to drought conditions.

The four generators Rhoades's department owned previously could meet that demand, but that expecting them to work 100 percent of the time at 100 percent capacity was not a comfortable position to be in. Should one generator fail, that would require rolling blackouts through town. The new generator, weighing 80,000 pounds, will provide an additional 2.5 megawatts of power whenever needed.

The second generator purchased from Nome can make 1.5 megawatts of power, he said. This will be kept in a separate container as a mobile unit that can be moved from place to place around town. It is the backup plan to their backup plan, Rhoades said.

The Nome generator will be fully installed in the coming weeks, he said.