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WRANGELL - The borough's energy committee asked borough administrator Jeff Jabusch to provide the borough assembly with data-driven assessments of options for the future of the Thomas Bay Power Authority. The committee's Monday meeting was largely an informal affair, with most decisions being made by consensus instead of role-call votes. Committee members also honed in on the options for the TBPA, which has been stuck in limbo since the Petersburg borough council voted to withhold their portion...
WRANGELL — The Wrangell Borough Assembly’s energy committee met for the second time ever Tuesday night. Committee members took no formal actions, other than to elect assembly member James Stough – the only sitting assembly member on the committee – as chair, and to elect Brian Ashton, a Southeast Alaska Power Agency board member and Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioner. The former energy committee chair, board member Pamella McClocskey, had resigned. However, the committee composed a set of possible recommendations to the assembly to be f...
WRANGELL — The two-day Southeast Alaska Power Agency board meeting became in part a prism through which to view debate over the future of the Thomas Bay Power Authority. The TBPA debate has raised hackles both with SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson and board members, particularly the amount of misinformation SEAPA officials claim was circulated during a Sept. 24 meeting of the Wrangell Borough Assembly. Nor are factual inaccuracies limited to that assembly meeting, officials say. They cited a letter from Ketchikan Public Utilities to the Mayor, i...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a resolution Friday informing the Wrangell assembly of its acceptance of Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s offer to take over Tyee Hydroelectric Project operation costs. The resolution urges the Wrangell assembly to also accept the offer. SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson presented the offer that would also absorb existing Thomas Bay Power Authority employees along with their Public Employee Retirement System unfunded liabilities in excess of $750,000 should SEAPA ter...
In a joint work session Tuesday aimed at discussing the future of Thomas Bay Power Authority, the dialogue between Petersburg and Wrangell borough assembly members missed the mark. The joint meeting was sparked after the Petersburg assembly voted not to fund its share of a portion of the TBPA budget labeled non-net billable — funding the two municipalities have traditionally split that goes towards administrative costs of TBPA’s commission. The lack of funding left Wrangell shelling out its $55,000 share, enough to keep the commission run... Full story
Tuesday’s joint work session with the Wrangell and Petersburg assembly members leads us to believe the work of the Thomas Bay Power Authority is no longer needed. It’s time to disband the organization and turn their responsibilities over to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, which owns the Tyee facilities. The Thomas Bay Power Authority deserves praise for what it has accomplished since it formed in 1974 and began its search for a viable hydroelectric operation for the two towns. The Tyee project was built by the State of Alaska and was later p...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will likely travel to Wrangell September 10 to discuss with its assembly the viability of Thomas Bay Power Authority. According to a memo sent out by Wrangell Interim Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch, the two municipalities created TBPA to jointly maintain and operate the Tyee Hyrdoelctric power plant. Southeast Alaska Power Agency, SEAPA, owns the facility and pays for its operations and maintenance. But there’s an additional expense associated with TBPA budget that the two boroughs traditionally split. It’s cal...
Fourth of July activities will quickly be upon the community and Petersburg Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for a great celebration. Petersburg Parks and Recreation placed three themes for the event on its website for voting by the community. The themes were: America Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Old Values Plus New Ideals and Remember Why it’s the Fourth of July. Remember Why it’s the Fourth of July was the winner of this community-wide vote and will be the theme for this year's event. “I am hoping to see lots of tea party floats and decor...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency CEO, Trey Acteson, provided a presentation during the Assembly meeting on Monday night outlining the services and mission of the SEAPA organization. Acteson stated that SEAPA's mission is to provide the lowest wholesale power rate consistent with sound utility planning and business practices. SEAPA exists for the long-term benefit of the member utilities and the rate payers, providing unified regional leadership for project development and prudent management of the...
Members of the Thomas Bay Power Authority Commission met for their regular meeting on Wednesday, May 15 to discuss possible conflicts of interest within the organization. TBPA Commissioner and Petersburg Municipal Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson brought commission policies to light in regard to these conflicts. “Our commission policy states that no one on the commission can hold a direct interest in a contract of a business providing service for us,” Nelson read. “In the past when we had Pac Wing and Sunrise flying for us, the commi...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency board declared last week that it is moving forward with an expansion of the Swan Lake reservoir despite a lack of funding from the Alaska Legislature. That decision and others were made at SEAPA’s all-day board meeting in Ketchikan. Board Member Sam Bergeron, who also sits on the Ketchikan City Council, said in a telephone interview Friday the board was doing “good work.” “The board is taking the easiest projects that bring us the most returns in the short term,” Bergeron said, referencing the Swan Lake expa...
A motion to join the City and Borough of Wrangell in studying the possibility of separating from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency drew heated debate among Ketchikan City Council members Thursday before gaining narrow approval. The Council was considering whether to follow Wrangell’s lead and partner with that city and possibly Petersburg, the third member of SEAPA, in commissioning a study about SEAPA’s ongoing value to the three communities. During the public comment portion of the meeting, people spoke both for and against the motion. Jason...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioners undertook a lengthy discussion over who will be hired to take the reins of the utility for Wrangell and Petersburg during a special meeting held March 4 in Wrangell. A motion by commissioner Dave Galla to keep current manager Paul Southland on as the full-time leader of the utility for at least a year failed by a 4-3 vote, with commissioners Robert Larson, Joe Nelson, Clay Hammer and president John Jensen voting against the motion. TBPA operations foreman Mick Nicholls was then nominated by commissio...
During the March 5-6 meeting of the SEAPA Board of Directors, the reports of operations manager Steve Henson and special projects director Eric Wolfe highlighted a number of projects and new information related to the Tyee Lake Hydroelectric project. An analysis of a Petersburg electrical tower that is sloughing is a topic of importance in the report. “Petersburg Municipal Power and Light discovered a bank that was sloughing near the outside set of anchors on Tower 76-1M on Mitkof Island. There are two anchors per pole of the three pole s...
WRANGELL — The City and Borough of Wrangell is working with a Denver-based consultancy firm to determine the cost of eliminating PERS employees at Thomas Bay Power Authority via a “termination study” that will show the cost of eliminating seven positions at the organization – a move recommended in a Southeast Alaska Power Agency commissioned report issued last year by D. Hittle and Associates. According to Borough Finance Director Jeff Jabusch, the city undertook the study to assist SEAPA. “Last fall, the SEAPA folks requested permissio...
Community and utility leaders from Petersburg, Wrangell, Juneau, Angoon and Ketchikan gathered last week to discuss energy resources in a round table forum. The common denominator for most of these leaders was a way to reduce the need for diesel power or get off of this expensive power altogether. Southeast Conference Energy Coordinator Robert Venables facilitated the event and laid out several key findings from the Southeast Alaska Integrated Resource Plan that he thought necessary for consideration. “The current situation facing the S... Full story
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board of Directors will meet in special session this week to discuss a possible junket for the five voting members to hash out organizational policy and the administrative oversight of staff members. The board will meet tomorrow in Ketchikan to mull over a possible board retreat where Wrangell board member Brian Ashton said they would decide whether to pursue such a trip. “Over the past year, some board members have voiced a desire to have a retreat, in order to address some foundational issues pertaining to SE...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority Commission met Wednesday morning to get updates on the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, SEAPA, Tyee and to elect officers for the new year. Sitting Member at Large, Brian Ashton resubmitted his letter of interest for the position along with fellow Wrangell resident Mike Nash. Ashton was appointed to the position once again and a nomination was placed for the current officers to remain at their posts for another year. TBPA President for 2013 is John Jensen; Vice-Presi...
A debate over the openness of records in the possession of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency – along with discussion over the noticing, intent and necessity of an executive session to seek requests for power and energy from across the region – were two of the highlights of a special meeting of the SEAPA Board of Directors on Jan. 17 in Ketchikan. During the opening of the meeting, the board allowed for comment from the public and media who were listening in on the meeting via teleconference. At that point, Matt Lichtenstein, the news dir... Full story
Petersburg has traditionally appointed the Power and Light Superintendent, Joe Nelson as the voting member of Southeast Alaska Power Authority, SEAPA. The Petersburg Borough has received one letter of interest to take the alternate position on this board, held by Ted Smith. John Jensen has applied for the spot. Jensen has served as a member of the SEAPA Board in the past and is currently a member of the Thomas Bay Power Authority Board. “Without any objections from the assembly,” Petersburg Borough Mayor Mark Jensen stated. “I would like to ap...
Planning and preliminary design work has begun for a new electrical transmission line intertie that would extend west across the Tongass National Forest, from the Petersburg area to Kake on Kupreanof Island. According to Project Manager for the Intertie, Mark Schinman, the Kake – Petersburg Intertie would transmit power to Kake at either 69 or 138 kilovolts and consist primarily of single wood pole structures. Schinman also explained that two primary alternative routes are being considered. The two routes generally follow previously i... Full story
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board of Directors voted on Tuesday, Dec. 11 to hold off on accepting an operations and management proposal from D. Hittle and Associates which recommends the streamlining of operations and management at the Tyee and Swan hydroelectric projects under a single operator. SEAPA commissioned the report, which was released in September, as an alternative to current staffing and risk management solutions at both locations. According to the agency’s chief executive officer, Trey Acteson, the change in operating s... Full story
The City and Borough of Wrangell held a workshop on Monday, Nov. 5 to deal with a number of issues related to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Thomas Bay Power Authority, and a report by an engineering and consultancy group that is recommending a change in the way Tyee Lake’s hydropower facility, among others, is operated. A report by D. Hittle and Associates, which was commissioned by SEAPA, is calling for the cancellation of the partnership agreement between TBPA and SEAPA for the o...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority Commission met Tuesday, Oct. 30 and discussed a presentation to be given at the upcoming City and Borough of Wrangell workshop session to be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5. TBPA General Manager Paul Southland presented information to the commission regarding a report by D. Hittle and Associates and made note of information that he feels needed to be explored a little further by the commission. “The report that D. Hittle has provided to the SEAPA Board is incomplete,” Southland said. “And I believe that this...
The possibility of streamlining the operations of Thomas Bay Power Authority and Ketchikan Power Utility into a single operator was brought before the Petersburg City Council Monday evening. “The operations and management report was commissioned by SEAPA to see how we are doing with our business,” Trey Acteson said. “We are hoping to see if there are any opportunities for savings in the near future.” Acteson also explained that with the addition of the Swan Lake and Tyee intertie, the dynamics have changed as to the management of the power r...
