February 2026 Back Page – A Rough Start to the New Year
A few high wind events already this year and temperatures staying well below 0 F almost every day since Christmas has heightened the challenge of keeping the lights on. Since restoring all power after ex-typhoon Halong in October, our cooperative has been racing to meet the needs of each community with contractors and crew.
I apologize to those communities where we have fallen behind. Chevak, Hooper Bay, and Quinhagak residents have started this year with repeated or lengthy outages as we battled the elements and the distances to get the parts and people needed to make repairs. The New Stuyahok School was on its own generator for nearly a month as we routed the limited line crews to address higher priorities. I also apologize to individual homeowners with damaged service wires, starting off the year waiting in the dark for their turn for repairs.
When temperatures drop, every piece of equipment has to work harder to meet increased electrical loads. Cold weather peaks require each community’s largest generator or multiple generators to meet the load. The conductors, breakers, and transformers used to distribute power are carrying their maximum loads. The HVAC, cooling and fuel systems that provide what engines need to run are taxed to adapt to -40 F ambient air. Some problems appear only when things get cold, and when the lights go out, it does not take long for problems to multiply.
AVEC service crews are pretty good at figuring out the problems and making repairs. In AVEC’s remote locations much of the troubleshooting and repairs are accomplished in partnership between people with their hands on the wrenches and support from afar. Power Plant Operators and Field Techs take care of an awful lot on their own but sometimes they need to “call a friend”. Whether it is a tech in another village or supervisor in the office when the lights go out there is a team of people working to restore power. And when parts are purchased, packaged, and shipped the team gets bigger.
Until next time,
Bill Stamm