Most of Sitka lost power for about a half-hour Wednesday afternoon (4-29-15), but the new equipment at the Blue Lake project was not to blame.
Utility director Chris Brewton says a faulty gate mechanism at one of the turbines at the Green Lake hydro plant was the source of the problem, which subsequently caused the loss of three transmission feeders.
Brewton says that during this type of partial system outage, it’s normal for the city’s grid to first shut down power to the neighborhoods on either end of the road system, while attempting to preserve power downtown.
The event started at approximately 2:12 PM. Power was restored by 2:42 PM. Brewton says backup diesel generators on Jarvis Street were used to stabilize the system as hydro power was restored.
