Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 211
Wrangell and Petersburg utilities can be expecting a rebate this year from Southeast Alaska Power Agency. This summer the board approved a rebate of $1.5 million for member utilities. A formal award plan was presented at last week’s meeting in Ketchikan on Dec. 10, with $340,563 to go to Wrangell and $372,343 to Petersburg. The remaining $787,093 would be distributed to Ketchikan. Voting alternate and electrical superintendent Clay Hammer represented Wrangell at the meeting, and he explained the rebate was possible in part because of funds u...
Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following information during the October 5 borough assembly meeting: Four Petersburg High School students are participating in this year’s Junior Firefighter Program. The annual Fire Prevention Program for Rae C Stedman elementary school kids kicks off this week, Oct. 5-9. EMS Director Sandy Dixson will attend the grant required Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Fall Preparedness Conference in Anchorage, Oct. 5-10. Harbor staff is winterizing the harbor f...
For its September regular board meeting, Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA) board members met in Petersburg earlier this week. The board heard updates concerning the company's ongoing efforts to catalog hydro sites in Southeast. This summer, a consultant flight crew moved personnel and equipment to remote areas, including lakes that have never had bathymetric studies conducted on them. The process reveals underwater topography while recording the depth of the lakes. Falls Lake and Scenery Lake were both mapped and recorded. Similar survey...
In a special meeting on July 7, board members of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) met to discuss two items. The board voted to award a bid not to exceed $396,080 for the Swan Lake Powerhouse Roof Membrane Project to the Sitka-based company CBC Construction. The company was one of four that submitted bids, which ranged from $336,569 to $566,258. Petersburg Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson was the sole dissenting vote. He said he had reservations about the large spread of bid amounts and the design of the roof. “I think we s... Full story
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report at Thursday’s Assembly meeting: - The next regular SEAPA meeting will be held in Petersburg, Sept. 23-24. It is a public meeting. - The annual FERC inspection of Blind Slough Hydro has been scheduled for Sept. 23. It will include a table-top exercise of the Emergency Action Plan (EAP). - The aquatic center has had some water issues over the past week. Brian Haley was called in to come take a look. The hot water has been intermittent over the end of last week, but a part has been o...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report at Monday’s assembly meeting: The Middle Harbor waterline is back on. Crew from Rock N Road assisted the Harbor maintenance crew over the last week as the line was lengthened and laid completely outside of the problem area. EMS Marine Survey performed a condition survey on the Homeland Security boat as required by insurance every third year. All looked fine and no maintenance exceptions were noted. The Drive Down Facility is busy with 157 annual permits sold thus far. Mark Morris c...
Despite dimming income over the past fiscal year, board members for Southeast Alaska Power Agency were informed the future is still a bright one. At its June 18 meeting in Ketchikan, CEO Trey Acteson reported SEAPA remains financially strong and well-positioned leading into the next fiscal year. Sales revenues through last month were $1.3 million below budget, or about 12 percent. While weather volatility has played a hand in the shortfall, a consistent drop from anticipated power consumption by Ketchikan through the 2015 fiscal year has also...
At a special meeting on May 15, the board of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) approved the purchase of 348 helicopter landing pad panels from Fibergrate Composite Structures of Dallas, Texas, for $135,360. The 4-by-12 foot molded fiberglass grating panels are part of the Swan-Tyee Intertie Helipad Project, which will see the construction of 105 landing pads along the transmission lines' 261 towers. At its March 25 board meeting, SEAPA anticipated 40 to 50 pads can be set up this year, with the rest slated for next year. The pads will...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report at Monday’s Assembly meeting: Community Development and Finance staff are working to streamline the process of issuing building permits and other land use permits. With both departments in the same building, we need a new procedure for customers to help make the process easier. Community Development staff have also begun the process, with the attorney, to develop procedures and new documentation (letters, notices) for use with the new nuisance ordinance. Fire/EMS Director Sandy D...
Last week’s article about the Petersburg Borough Assembly passing an amended resolution allowing for the Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s (SEAPA) bond refinancing and new bond sale incorrectly stated that all member utilities, including Wrangell and Ketchikan, will have to vote on the revised resolution for the bond sale to proceed. The Pilot regrets the error.... Full story
Petersburg Borough Assembly members passed an amended resolution to allow Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) to move forward with refinancing of existing 2009 bonds and a proposed $7 million bond sale to fund an expansion of the Swan Lake facility northeast of Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. Though Petersburg and Wrangell municipal attorneys have vetted the paperwork for the bond sale, Peterburg's Vice Mayor Cindi Lagoudakis said she had some concerns about the resolution's wording. “My concern with this resolution is that it doesn't i...
A project to improve storage capacity at Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s (SEAPA) Swan Lake hydropower facility continues along with efforts to finance it with up to $11.36 million in bond sales. Over the past month, SEAPA’s executive director Trey Acteson and general counsel presented updates on the planned expansion of the facility located northeast of Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. Each of SEAPA’s three member utilities—Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan— heard presentations on the expansion and the associated bonds. The project w...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) CEO Trey Acteson spoke before the Petersburg Borough Assembly last week and the Wrangell Assembly this week to update the communities on the progress of the Swan Lake expansion project and apprise them of their role in upcoming refinancing efforts. The current dam at Swan Lake is 174 feet tall and 430 feet wide with a spillway slot that is 15 feet high and 100 feet wide. "Essentially the project is to fill that spillway slot, be able to raise the reservoir...
During their regular meeting held on Feb. 4 and 5, members of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency board approved taking the next steps toward diversifying the power provider’s energy portfolio. In particular, SEAPA could begin looking into the possibility of geothermal development at Bell Island, which has a former resort sporting a hot spring. The site has had the attention of the Unites States Geological Survey as a potential power source for well over half a century, but has yet to be fully assessed. “We’re just scratching the surfa...
Board members for Southeast Alaska Power Agency sat down in Ketchikan last week for their two-day regular meeting, examining the regional power provider’s current financial position as well as looking ahead at its future projects. “It went really well,” commented Wrangell’s representative, Steve Prysunka, after his first meeting. Elected to the Borough Assembly last October, Prysunka was appointed to represent it on the power agency’s board. “I was pleased with the tone of the meeting and how everything went. There was a sense of cooperation...
Though many of the thirty individuals who showed up at the public meeting held last Wednesday to discuss the Kake-Petersburg Intertie (KPI) expressed their support for the project, a spirited discussion also ensued about the various components included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the environmental review process. The review process is required under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) for any projects that will have a...
The Wrangell and Petersburg Assemblies will soon vote on an ordinance that will turn the Thomas Bay Power Commission (TBPC) into a member appointed advisory committee, activated only at the behest of both assemblies. The TBPC oversaw the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant until operations and management of the plant were transferred to the Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA) last summer. Since then, TBPC members, in conjunction with both municipalities’ assemblies, have been trying to figure out t...
The U.S. Forest Service will soon be accepting comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Kake-Petersburg Intertie, a proposed electrical transmission line that would connect Kake to a SEAPA substation in Petersburg. The proposed project would bring cheaper power to Kake whose 550 residents are currently using costly diesel to power their homes and businesses. "In 2011, the full retail cost of power in Kake was 62 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), more than five times the... Full story
Several appointments were made at Monday’s Assembly meeting to fill vacancies on various boards. Marlene Cushing, Kris Thynes and Erin Michael expressed interest in filling the two remaining vacancies on the hospital board. After a vote by the assembly, Cushing and Thynes were appointed to serve. In her letter of interest, Cushing said she will bring her experience serving on non-profit boards and her 30 years of experience as a health care provider to the Hospital Board. Thynes wrote in her letter that the 18 months she worked in the h...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) board members met in Petersburg Nov. 13-14 to discuss the results of their annual audit and other business. Independent auditing company BDO performed this year’s audit, which followed both generally acceptable auditing standards as well as government auditing standards, required because SEAPA received some $5.99 million in state grants of which $1.11 million counted as state expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 2014. BDO’s Assurance Director Joy Merriner was present via teleconference for the... Full story
A Kake-Petersburg Intertie (KPI) project update was given during this week's Southeast Conference held in Wrangell. The KPI includes a proposed electrical transmission line that would connect Kake to a SEAPA (Southeast Alaska Power Agency) substation in Petersburg. Kake, a community of just over 550 people, is situated on the northwest coast of Kupreanof Island and is working to find cheaper alternatives to costly diesel, which provides the bulk of their power currently. “The Kake-Petersburg Intertie would transmit power at either 69 or 130 kil... Full story
At their regular board meeting last week in Ketchikan, Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) approved rebates to member utilities, discussed the progress of the Swan Lake expansion project and approved the Whitman Lake True Up Agreement. “We did approve a rebate to the member utilities based on last year’s financial performance,” said Joe Nelson, Petersburg Municipal Power and Light (PMPL) superintendent. SEAPA Secretary and Treasurer Andy Donato said SEAPA saw record revenues last year, with 183 million kilowatt hours produced for its membe... Full story
Petersburg and Wrangell's representative of the Thomas Bay Power Commission (TBPC) met Tuesday morning via teleconference to discuss the commission's future role. The TPBC is the acting body for the Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) that was responsible for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant, providing power to Wrangell and Petersburg. Last May the Petersburg Assembly voted not to fund its share of a portion of the TBPA's budget, called the non-net billable, after discussions about whether or not the agency...
Borough Manager Steve Geisbrecht gave his report to the assembly at Monday's meeting. Replacement lighting at the South Harbor should be completed this week, including installation of the final five new fixtures and the removal of the old fixtures. Planning and design work is beginning on the possible replacement of the aging Cat electric generators. Replacement parts are no longer manufactured, and both units are reaching the end of their useful life. The borough is working with SEAPA and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to deal with...
The Petersburg and Wrangell Boroughs are a few steps closer to completing the transfer of Operations and Maintenance of the Tyee Lake hydroelectric facility from Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) after a meeting last Thursday. Thursday's regular session meeting brought representatives from the Thomas Bay Power Commission (TBPC) and the Petersburg and Wrangell Boroughs together to elect a new commission chair and secretary, work towards finalizing the SEAPA transition document and discuss the future role... Full story
