Crews repair lines, restore hydro power
Damaged tower bypassed as part of 'permanent fix'
Repairs to the Snettisham transmission line were completed Sunday evening, returning hydroelectric power to all of Juneau.
Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. reported power restored at about 5:05 p.m., and the diesel generators keeping the city lit during the past three weeks were shut down shortly after.
Engineers bypassed tower No. 3-5 - the lone casualty during the Jan. 12 slide - to another tower less vulnerable to avalanches, AEL&P Vice President Scott Willis said.
"Engineers ... determined that the standing towers on either side ... could handle the (power) load," he said.
Tower No. 3-5 also was damaged during the April 16 slide that damaged five towers leading from the Snettisham Hydro Project, located about 40 miles south of Juneau. Willis said bypassing tower No. 3-5 "will be a permanent fix because that tower that has been hit twice" in the last few months.
"This is a good way to fix the problem because the zone the tower is in is one of the most vulnerable to avalanches," he said.
AEL&P will continue to study the avalanche zone to protect nearby towers from future natural disasters, Willis said.
The most recent energy crisis lasted just half the time of last year's, and will cost a fraction of the $6 million in damage caused by last spring's avalanche. Willis estimated repairs this time around would be in the neighborhood of $1 million.
Though final numbers won't be available until later today, Willis said roughly 1.6 million gallons of diesel - or $3.6 million worth of fuel - were burned during the city's three weeks without hydro power.
For residential users, that will mean just one month of paying for a 15-cent Emergency Cost of Power Adjustment, which Willis said AEL&P will ask the state's Regulatory Commission for later this week. Energy costs during the current billing cycle will be about 25 cents per kilowatt hour.
Willis warned residents to continue conserving energy because the more expensive billing cycle is still in effect. The end of the billing cycle varies from person to person. Details about residential billing can be found at www.aelp.com.
Willis said businesses would be informed of rate adjustments once the ECOPA is filed.