Outage at Marine Street traced to old part

The Marine Street substation serves 80% of Sitka customers and most of the infrastructure is over 35 years old. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

The power went out in Sitka for the second time this week.

Around 1:15 a.m. on Thursday (01-19-17), an electronic protective relay failed at the Marine Street Substation. Relays are basically the switches that control the electric circuit. Power was restored at 3:50 a.m.

Utility Director Bryan Bertacchi said in an e-mail this morning that electric crews worked in the dead of night to remove the broken hardware and replace it with a spare.

The Marine Street substation serves 80% of Sitka customers. Most of its parts are over 35 years old. When it comes to infrastructure repairs, Bertacchi says creating a backup for the substation is #1 on the Electric Department’s to-do list (Memo Electric Department 10 Year Capital Plan). They call it the N-1 Plan, a $3.4 million project would create a second bay at the substation and increase the amount of power delivered to customers in case of an emergency.
Aging infrastructure has brought down the lights in parts of Sitka all year. On Sunday, the power went out briefly on Japonski Island, Thompson and Eliason harbors.