Alaska Electric Light and Power Company plans to close its Snettisham Hydroelectric dam for two days in late August to install an avalanche diversion at power line tower 4-5.
Greens Creek, Princess Cruise Lines and dual fuel customers, all interruptible customers, will be taken offline, according to an AEL&P press release.
The shutdown will require use of the power company’s standby diesel generators. AEL&P has already added the estimated fuel costs to its current Cost of Power Adjustment included on a customer’s bill. Conservation efforts or a reduced outage time could save diesel generator use. Any savings or additional costs associated with diesel usage will be factored into the next quarter’s Cost of Power Adjustment.
Tower 4-5 is located along mile four of the power lines that run from Snettisham to the Taku Inlet. AEL&P plans to bring material to the site by heavy lift helicopter. Work on the diversion began in May and continues to Oct. 1.
A similar avalanche diversion was installed at tower 4-6 in 2009. The diversion protected the tower during an avalanche in March (goo.gl/ezz68).
Comments (10)
Add commentThoughtful
Wow...Thank you AEL&P for being so thoughtful about charging the people of Juneau ahead of time.
Seriously? Charging me ahead
Seriously? Charging me ahead of time? THIS I don't agree with. Tell me which 2 days you're going to be using diesel, and I'll cut my usage for those 2 days.
JNUKara
Right on ! We can all reduce our use of electricity in our homes for a few days. But I don't think that's how the monthly bills are calculated.
Typical AEL&P
Why does the power have to shut off at all? And why doesn't this article mention when and how many days it will be off? Can't do an estimate for that?
AEL&P does a Cost of Power Adjustment which
Reimburses us for our conservation during the diesel outage. The COPA is intended to provide AEL&P with the funds to burn diesel during servicing of hydro services. No one is getting ripped off. They actually offer a website FAQ for your queries. I suggest you check it out first.
Halvis, the services provided to those with back up diesel like the cruise lines, greens creek, etc. are shut off during these periods. Just like greens creek is cut off during the winter months when water levels are low, in order to ensure service is continued for city residents. No need to freak out. It mentions all of your questions, in fact. Maybe you should read the article first.
Dorothy lake?
What about the Dorothy Lake hydro? Wasnt that going to be part of the solution or alternative to running Diesel?
Snettisham is rated for almost 80 MW output.
The current phase of lake Dorothy outputs 14MW. Obviously it's not back up. Lake Dorothy supports the required energy usage of CBJ and is supplemental rather than stand alone.
Why?
@Halvis: They are most likely shutting down the power because a heavy lift helicopter will be operating in the vicinity of the tower being safe-guarded. You know, the tower which holds up electrical transmission lines carrying very high current?
This is analogous to switching off the circuit breaker when working on a switch or outlet on your home. You do that, right?
Thank you for that info,
Thank you for that info, cheesypoof - too bad they didn't include it, or a link to said FAQ's - on this article....
Shut down
For Cheesypoof:
Went to the AEL&P website - no faqs. Perhaps you could provide a link to what faqs you're referencing? I remain unclear as to how we can conserve and avoid the high cost of diesel.