SITKA — Officials with Sitka’s electric department have plans for $15.7 million in projects over the next decade to address weaknesses in the city’s electric system and avoid major power emergencies.
Electric utility director Bryan Bertacchi told the Assembly Tuesday that top priorities in the 10-year plan target the distribution system as well as transmission and generation issues, the Sitka Sentinel reported.
Bertacchi recommends installing a new $11 million substation in the Kramer Avenue area to support the one on Marine Street. He said statistics show the existing substation could break down in the next 15 years due to aging transformers. A new facility could ease the load on the feeder line and minimize the risk of outages caused by distribution problems.
“If we wanted to go that way we could go that way now,” Bertacchi said. “If we had an emergency, we could find a way to hook it up instead of rotating blackouts.”
Other priorities in the plan include replacement of the overhead transmission line from the Blue Lake power plant to Thimbleberry trailhead, which would cost $3.8 million. The line transfers power from both Green and Blue lakes to Sitka.
Bertacchi said other priorities include a new Jarvis Street oil containment system, which could cost up to $1 million, and an internal inspection of Green Lake for $400,000.
Bertacchi is also calling on the city to consider less urgent projects, like a $7 million overhaul of the Green Lake hydro and work on the Marine Street substation for $1 million.
Finance Director Jay Sweeney said the city electric fund does not have sufficient funds to pay for the $23.7 million needed to cover both top-tier and second-tier projects.
“The key point I want to make is that, as it exists right now, combining all available cash proceeds, there is not enough to pay for everything in the plan,” he said.
The electric fund has $15.3 million in available working capital, including $9.5 million in unspent bond proceeds.
Bertacchi suggested that the Assembly consider spending remaining bond proceeds on the most necessary projects, using the undesignated fund balance of $8.5 million and raising utility rates. Other options would include living with the risks of not making critical repairs, Bertacchi said.
