Alaska Power & Telephone (AP&T) is one step closer to replacing the damaged power and fiber optic cable connecting its Kasidaya hydropower plant, and by extension Haines, to Skagway. At a May 6 meeting, the Skagway Borough Assembly approved an easement allowing AP&T to run a new cable through Smuggler’s Cove.
The cable is vital for power resource sharing between Haines and Skagway.
“There is a power cable that runs from Skagway to the remote Kasidaya hydropower project, then from the Kasidaya hydro project to Haines,” Skagway manager of power operations Darren Belisle said in an interview Tuesday. “With the cable in place, the communities’ power needs are pooled, as are the generation resources. This results in cost savings and reliability improvements for everyone.”
If the cable were to fail, it would isolate the Haines and Skagway power systems.
“Separately, the individual hydropower projects are not the best individual fits for the separate community loads. But when you put it all together, there is a better overall fit, less clean energy goes to waste, and we use less diesel fuel. There are also greater technical challenges and costs involved in running multiple smaller grids,” Belisle said.
Without a connection to hydropower plants in Skagway, Haines would be mostly reliant on its downtown diesel plant.
“If (the cable) snaps, we’ll be 24/7 on diesel. Diesel is way more expensive than hydropower. If the hydropower capability went, and we were 24/7 on diesel, rates would rise,” AP&T Haines power operations manager Lance Caldwell said.
AP&T first learned of the damaged cable in March 2019. In a press release at the time, the company said a remotely operated submarine found evidence that geologic activity had damaged the undersea cable and warned that additional activity could cause failure.
“There is a fiber optic cable inside of the power cable that runs communication between Kasidaya and our other plants. The fiber failed first because it is more brittle than the copper (power component), which is slightly stretchy,” Belisle said.
The cable’s new location should help minimize risk of future failure, according to Belisle.
Skagway’s approval of the easement allows AP&T to finalize a design and begin the permitting process for the project. Lease terms still need to be finalized.
Belisle declined to give a price estimate for the project. “AP&T will conduct a Request for Proposals (RFP) soon, which should provide us with greater insight into pricing,” he said.
Belisle said AP&T hopes to be able to install the new cable in 2022, but the timeline could be delayed, depending on factors including permitting and material availability.
AP&T didn’t respond by press time to a question about whether the project will result in rate increases.