(Sage Smiley / KSTK)
Wrangell is being powered by just two of the town’s four diesel generators while the hydro turbines are offline for routine maintenance.
But, Municipal Light & Power superintendent Rod Rhoades says the two generators should still supply the town’s energy needs.
“Right now we have 4.5 megawatts of power available on two generators,” Rhoades said Friday morning. “One at 2.5 megs, and another one at two megs. So together we can generate 4.5 megs of power. Right now, the whole community of Wrangell is only asking for 3.5 megs, so there’s no need to bring on a third machine at this time.”
The island lost power for about a half hour Thursday evening after a cooling fan failed in one of the generators.
Rhoades said Friday that’s been fixed. A second brief power outage later that evening had nothing to do with supply.
“That was human error,” Rhoades explained.
He said that the first power outage had tripped a breaker that utility crews didn’t notice. In the search for the breaker, someone pushed the wrong button that briefly plunged the town back into darkness.
In the meantime, Wrangell’s public swimming pool will be a little bit chillier while the city conserves energy. That’s according to a statement from Wrangell Parks & Recreation.
You can read KSTK’s initial coverage of the outage here.
Get in contact with KSTK at news@kstk.org or (907)-874-2345.
