National Drought Mitigation Center
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Diesel replacing hydropower in several Alaska cities
3/5/2019 12:00:00 AM



CATEGORIES:
Energy
Water Supply & Quality
AFFECTED AREAS:
Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK
Ketchikan, AK
Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, AK
Petersburg, AK
Wrangell, AK

Start Date: 2/28/2019 - End Date: 3/29/2019
Wrangell and Petersburg returned to hydropower rather than using diesel generators to produce electricity for their customers. Ketchikan, however, was still producing about 50 percent of its electricity using diesel generators. KSTK-FM 101.7 Public Radio (Wrangell, Alaska), March 29, 2019 The Southeast Alaska Power Agency ended power generation at Swan Lake near Ketchikan on Feb. 28. A little hydropower was still being generated at Tyee Lake and Crystal Lake. Tyee Lake has enough water for 25 days of hydropower. Crystal Lake was roughly 35 days away from reaching a record low. “The water levels in both of the reservoirs are at very low and critical level,” said Bob Lynn, Petersburg’s voting member on the board of (SEAPA). “All three communities [Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan] are operating a major part of their electrical loads off generators trying to minimize draw on the remaining water in the reservoirs.” KFSK-FM (Petersburg, Alaska), March 7, 2019 Petersburg, Ketchikan and Wrangell were almost entirely relying on fossil fuel for electricity as reservoirs ran too low for much hydropower production. Juneau KTOO (Alaska), March 2, 2019
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