All of Sitka experienced a brief power outage Thursday morning (5-6-16), that began at approximately 8:08 AM during testing of the back-up diesel generator.
The outage lasted for 48 minutes, until the utility department corrected the fault and returned the generator to full service.
In a statement released by the city, Utility Director Bryan Bertacchi said the fault occurred during regular equipment testing to “ensure that it remains fully capable to support future emergencies.” Tests occur during the day so that there’s enough system load to perform the test on the generator, and so there’s enough staff to step in if the system fails.
Bertacchi added, “We appreciate and thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”
