Anchorage Daily News: Alaska's Newspaper

Powering down: The new dark ages

Rationing electricity becomes common in the Bush as fuel costs soar

By ALEX DEMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News

Published: April 4, 2006
Last Modified: April 4, 2006 at 09:58 AM

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When a planeload of diesel fuel touched down in the far-flung Interior village of Venetie on Friday, it meant the end, for now, to a string of dark nights and long days without electricity.

The village electric company, unable to afford the diesel fuel that powers the community, stretched supplies this winter by rationing power to homes and businesses. To save fuel in February, electricity was shut off completely some evenings and during the days on weekends.

For Danny Sam, the power clicked on in time to watch the NCAA basketball tournament Saturday afternoon. He curled up in front of the TV with his girlfriend and a bag of popcorn to soak in March Madness.

The high price of diesel fuel this winter has hit village Alaska hard, said First Chief Eddie Frank. In the Gwich'in village of Venetie, population 203, bulk purchases of fuel cost $3.21 a gallon.

To make matters worse, Venetie Village Electric is short on money because many residents can't, or won't, pay their bills, he said. Cash-strapped village-government facilities also can't pay, he said.

Power in Venetie costs 51 cents a kilowatt hour, more than five times what Anchorage residents pay.

"It's expensive," he said.

Venetie isn't alone. Villages around Alaska, faced with small customer bases and soaring costs, are struggling to keep the lights on. In some areas, diesel fuel prices have nearly doubled in two years, and some villages are paying more than $6 a gallon, said Mike Harper with the Alaska Energy Authority, the state agency that, among other things, tries to reduce electricity costs in the Bush.

Fuel prices have become so high that power plants in Nightmute, Tuluksak and Napakiak in Southwest Alaska have run out of fuel, said Elizabeth Manfred, program manager for the state's rural utility assistance office. They borrow from the local school or other entities, she said.

And in New Stuyahok north of Bristol Bay, villagers doused a recent cabin fire with a bucket brigade and snow, said City Administrator Mitch Chocknok. The city couldn't afford to heat the building that houses the fire truck. As a result, the truck is useless in the winter -- water stored inside it will freeze.

Two men were killed in the fire.

Many city administrators say their cash shortfalls stem from the state's 2003 decision to eliminate municipal revenue sharing -- a program that shared the state's oil revenue with cities. Without that support, villages have cut essential services such as road upkeep and police, Chocknok said.

The Legislature may consider bills to restore revenue sharing, said Kathie Wasserman, deputy director for the Alaska Municipal League. The program may be critical because the Legislature has removed millions of dollars from the governor's supplemental spending bill to help rural residents pay for energy. The bill is being discussed in conference committee.

Municipal revenue sharing would help Venetie pay for electricity, Frank said. The village used to get several thousand dollars a year from the program. Among other things, it helped village-government buildings -- the council office, the community hall and the water treatment plant -- pay for their power.

Unless the state helps out or fuel prices fall, rationing will continue in the future, Frank said. This winter, the company cut power at night for two dark weeks in February. It clicked on during the daytime, but only for five hours on the weekends.

Replenished fuel stocks lasted through most of March, but the rationing resumed Friday. The company's supply had dipped to 25 gallons, enough to power the village for only a few hours. Plant operator Tim Thumma borrowed a day's supply from the local school, and cut the power for almost 12 hours that day.

Villagers were relieved when Everts Air Fuel landed on Friday with 4,580 gallons. Still, most residents took the power shutdowns in stride with no complaints, Frank said.

Heat wasn't an issue because wood stoves are common. People without generators also lit homes with candles or kerosene lamps and visited with neighbors when phones went dead.

People with refrigerators moved their meat and other perishables into outside caches, residents said. The subzero nighttime temperatures kept food well-preserved.

The rationing annoyed young residents, though, said Sonya Villagecenter, a 30-year-old clerk at the Venetie store. They're used to watching television or listening to music at night.

But a new FM radio station based at the school lifted spirits. Budding disc jockey Marcie Whitwell started Indian Country Radio with help from students to fill in the silence.

Residents listened in on battery-powered radios as Whitwell fed classic rock tunes through a computer and read bilingual public service announcements. In English and Gwich'in, she read off the power-rationing schedule and reminded residents to blow out candles when they leave home.

"People are probably sick of hearing my voice," she laughed over the phone last week, as Tom Petty sang "Don't Do Me Like That" over her home radio.

As for the elders, life without power reminds them of the old days. Maggie Roberts, 70, was raised in the woods at a fishing and hunting camp near the Chandalar River. For light, her family lit rags soaked in melted animal fat. She chopped deadwood for heat. She still cuts her own wood -- with a chain saw -- and stuffs the stove at night herself.

"I'm used to it," she said of life without power. "It don't matter to me. I like it because it's quiet."

Daily News reporter Alex deMarban can be reached at ademarban@adn.com at (907) 257-4310.