Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 201
The Petersburg Parks and Recreation Aquatic Center suffered a catastrophic failure to its boiler breakers on Oct. 16 at approximately 8:30 P.M. that resulted in a fire and a city-wide brownout, according to a press release from borough officials. Parks and Rec. is working with Petersburg Municipal Power & Light and Mattingly Electric to determine the cause of the failure and restore power to other mechanical and lighting systems in the facility, according to the release. The borough consulted...
During Southeast Alaska's record breaking rainfall this summer, the Swan Lake hydroelectric facility reached its full capacity for the first time since the project was upgraded three years ago, according to a press release from Sen. Bert Stedman's office and Southeast Alaska Power Agency. Water levels reached the flashboards and forced a reservoir spill on July 24. The upgrade expanded the capacity of the hydroproject from 86,000 acre-feet to 111,800 acre-feet, according to the press release. Th...
At 12:27 P.M. on Saturday, power went out in parts of Petersburg. Three minutes later, downtown Wrangell was also left in the dark, leaving Petersburg and Wrangell officials to think that the two incidents were related. "The issues in both communities seem too close together to be considered a coincidence, but no one has been able to explain why the cutout failure in Petersburg caused a feeder in Wrangell to drop out," said Petersburg Utility Director Karl Hagerman in a statement to the...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board of Directors has awarded a bid for the replacement of a damaged submarine cable to Sumitomo, a Japanese firm, according to Board Chairman Bob Lynn. Lynn updated the Petersburg Borough Assembly on the project at their meeting on Monday. SEAPA received three bids for the project, and while Sumitomo’s bid wasn’t the lowest, the company has made a name for itself in the United States. Lynn said the project is expected to cost somewhere between $9 and $11 mil...
The cities of Wrangell, Petersburg, and Ketchikan all suffered a power outage in the early morning of July 4. Rod Rhoades, light and power director for Wrangell, said that the outage hit Wrangell at 3:05 a.m., but started in Ketchikan. All three communities are connected via the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, meaning they receive and share power from the same sources. While power has been restored, officials are still looking into the cause of the outage. All three cities lost power around 3...
The borough assembly approved resolution #2020-10 at their meeting on Monday, which approves the purchase of two handicap accessible restroom trailers for a total of $92,870. The purchase of the trailers from Comforts of Home Services, Inc. will be covered by the funding the borough received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, according to the resolution. The borough is able to purchase the restrooms with CARES Act funding because they have hand washing capabilities...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency is still in the process of trying to replace a damaged submarine cable that provides Petersburg with power, as complications increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bob Lynn, chairman of the SEAPA board, told the Petersburg Borough Assembly at their meeting on Monday that there are concerns over whether the project can be completed this year. The damaged cable is one of four submarine cables that connects the terminals between Woronofski and Vank islands to provide...
WRANGELL – The board of directors of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency held a teleconference meeting March 31, to hear an annual operations plan update as well as some operating budget increases, among other items. SEAPA provides hydroelectric power to the communities of Wrangell, Petersburg, and Ketchikan. The board is made up of five voting directors and alternates, who are appointed by their respective communities annually to represent them. The operations plan update, according to the meetin...
A resolution that would have opposed the Kake Access Road project and asked state legislators to reappropriate the remaining balance of the $40 million in funding for the project was voted down by the borough assembly at their meeting on Monday. Most assembly members were in support of a road connecting Kake to Petersburg, though they did not agree with the road ending at Twelvemile Creek. They had hoped the road would stretch closer to Petersburg. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci suggested the road...
During these times of limited capital project spending around the state, the proposed Kake to Petersburg road should not be a priority. Funding for the project was allocated in 2012 by Senator Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) under a "Roads to Resources" program. Ignoring the fact that the project has taken nearly 8 years to develop, much has changed since the project was funded. Biggest among them is the state's realization that they have to live within their means. Next is the fact that the...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency conducted a survey on a damaged cable running between Woronofski and Vank islands, and the board looks to make a final decision on whether to repair the cable or replace it by March's board meeting. "We could have up to 20 more years," said Bob Lynn, Petersburg's voting member on the SEAPA board. "We don't know, but the risk is very high on that old cable." Lynn gave the borough assembly an update on the project at an assembly meeting Monday, but data from the surve...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) _ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for a cruise ship dock in southeast Alaska, but the dock's opening date is unclear, agency officials said. The permit was issued Tuesday for the 1,300-foot (400-meter), two-berth cruise ship dock in Ward Cove, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of Juneau, Ketchikan Daily News reported Thursday. The permit was approved after two months of public comment and four months of review, officials said. The permit was issued to Power Systems & Supplies, owned by Dave and...
The cities of Wrangell and Petersburg both briefly lost power on Friday morning, Jan. 10. The power outage occurred a little before 11 a.m. and lasted about an hour. Both cities typically receive their electricity from a hydro plant at Tyee Lake, near Bradfield Canal. Rod Rhoades, light and power director for Wrangell, said that there was a "phase to phase fault" in the power line between the lake and the two cities. He speculated that this could mean something like a tree branch fell on the...
A patchwork of logging roads already exists, and the project would connect those roads to make a 35-mile, single-lane road between Kake and 12-mile Creek north of the city of Kupreanof. The money was allocated in 2012 by State Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, as part of a program called "Roads to Resources" meant to help access to natural resources. "We need to have a transportation system in Southeast," Stedman said in a phone interview. "This road is part of a bigger drive to help stabilize and exp...
January Following the shutdown of the U.S. government on Dec. 22, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard stated it would continue offering essential services. The borough assembly approved $600,000 for a new baler. The USCG located debris from an overdue medivac aircraft that had three people onboard that was due to land in Kake several nights before. A decrease in air cargo coming into Petersburg affected the timely arrival of residents' packages after the retirement of Alaska Airlines' combi 737-400...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board voted against a half-cent rate increase at their meeting earlier this month, but will vote on a possible rate increase again in March. The Tyee Lake hydro project dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, and the Swan Lake hydro project produces power for Ketchikan. In the past, the Tyee Lake hydro project has always produced more power than the two communities could use, so the excess power was sold to Ketchikan. Low lake levels in Tyee Lake this ye...
One of four submarine cables providing Petersburg with power from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency has been damaged and needs to either be repaired or replaced, but the SEAPA board is concerned with the success of repairing the cable and the price tag of a new one. Bob Lynn, Petersburg's voting member on the SEAPA board, said the board was updated on the condition of the submarine cable, which is located between Woronkofski and Vank islands, at their meeting earlier this month. According to...
Assembly Member Bob Lynn and Robert Larson were appointed as voting members on the Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board by Mayor Mark Jensen at an assembly meeting last week, with Utility Director Karl Hagerman and Planning and Zoning Commissioner Tor Benson serving as alternate voting members. Each year, Petersburg and Wrangell appoint one voting member and one alternate member to serve on the SEAPA board. Ketchikan appoints two voting members and two alternates each year. However, there is one...
The borough assembly took a neutral position on the future of the Roadless Rule at Monday's assembly meeting when they voted against a resolution that supported keeping the Roadless Rule intact and a resolution repealing it. Resolution #2019-14 was in support of alternative one of the draft environmental impact statement released by the United States Forest Service regarding the future of the Roadless Rule. Alternative one, or the do nothing option, keeps the Roadless Rule in place. Resolution #...
The borough is in the process of renewing an agreement with the state to receive $6,200 annually for the maintenance of the Ernie Haugen public use area, according to Public Works Director Chris Cotta at an assembly meeting on Monday. At an assembly meeting last month, the borough assembly approved letters to Sen. Bert Stedman and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins asking them to inquire into cooperative agreements between the borough and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for the management...
The water level at Tyee Lake was at 1,380.6 feet as of Monday, which will allow the hydro plant to produce power for over seven months should all inflows to the lake stop. As part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Tyee Lake dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, while Swan Lake produces power for Ketchikan. The 1,380.6 foot water level is about even with normal water levels for this time of the year, and is above the approximately 1,300 foot water level in November 2018, according t...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board approved $97,750 to replace the backup battery bank at the Tyee Lake hydro facility at a regular board meeting last Thursday. Early last month, Petersburg and Wrangell were providing their own power for about a week while the Tyee Lake Hydro facility was offline for annual maintenance. During the maintenance period, SEAPA conducted a battery capacity discharge test of the hydro project's nickel-cadmium batteries. Three hours into the test, one of the...
The borough's diesel generators began providing power to Petersburg Sunday afternoon after a failure in a Southeast Alaska Power Agency transmission line left the community without electricity for two and a half hours. The power outage occurred around 2 p.m., but it took Petersburg Municipal Power & Light some time to bring the power back on. SEAPA had thought they cleared the problem and instructed Petersburg to close its breakers at the substation in anticipation of restoring power, but the...
The water level at Tyee Lake was at 1,344.9 feet on Monday, which is roughly 60 feet higher than it was this time last year. As part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Tyee Lake dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, while Swan Lake produces power for Ketchikan. While the 1,345 foot water level is lower than the norm for Tyee Lake, it is still higher than the 1,285 foot water level in September 2018, said Utility Director Karl Hagerman. If water were to stop flowing into Tyee Lake...
WRANGELL - 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...
