Avalanches Are A Pain

Avalanche AreaAccording to the local paper, our power rates are likely to quintuple next month as a result of the avalanche that knocked out Juneau’s supply of hydro power. The whole city is currently running off of diesel generators and will most likely continue to run off of them for the next 3 to 4 months. 

The transmission line to Juneau from the Snettisham Power House, about 40 miles south of town, went down at 3:54 a.m., Wood said. The avalanche started three miles from the power house. It was 1.5 miles across.

Utility Diesel GeneratorsA helicopter was used by Alaska Electric Light and Power Co (AEL&P) to assess the damage. One of the transmission towers was down completely and four others were damaged. The bad weather at the time prevented AEL&P from making a complete assessment of the damage. To add insult to injury, shortly after the the helicopter left another avalanche took out additional towers.

It’s just a terrible place to have a transmission line,” AEL&P General Manager Tim McLeod said. “Those are straight-up-and-down cliffs.

 

We Are Running On Diesel Generators

Looks like this morning the city of Juneau lost power from Juneau’s Hydro Power due to an avalanche.

Juneau’s electricity rates are likely to triple on May bills as the result of an avalanche early this morning that cut all hydroelectric power to the area, according to an Alaska Electric Light & Power spokeswoman.

Juneau is running on diesel generators at Auke Bay and Lemon Creek, said Gayle Wood, director of consumer affairs.

One transmission tower is down and four damaged on the Snettisham line, which connects hydro power to the service area.

Outages were limited to the Thane area this morning, because the power load transferred to the diesel generators that were already running.

Wood said it would be two to three weeks before workers could safely begin repairing the line and that hydro power wouldn’t be restored for at least three months.

Well, this is going to make for a very expensive next few months.

UPDATE

According to the KINY radio website, a rep from Alaska Electric Light and Power says that they are working to try and figure out how to secure enough diesel to handle 3 to 4 months of usage. They are stressing the importance of power conservation.

Alaska Electric Light and Power said that they have been trying to assess the damage from the air

…a massive avalanche about three miles from the Snettisham power house that took out about a mile and a hour of transmission line. That includes damage to four to five towers…

The website continues with:

The electric utility official says customers can expect to see some very high bills. 

Residential rates were at 11 cents per kilowatt hour.

Alaska Electric Light and Powe initially estimated it would go to 30 to 35 cents, but has since revised that figure to 50 cents and adds that’s a conservative figure.

Local H Concert In June

I am so excited about this! Hannah and I have a vacation planned for the first two weeks of June. We have planed to get out of Juneau for a little bit and head back home to Washington State. We will get to see our family and friends. We are both very exited about this.

I just noticed on Local H’s (The Best Fucking Band In The World) MySpace page, that they have a show planned for Seattle on the 11th of June at the Chop Suey club. It just seems like luck that we would be in town the same time they will be.

Hannah has never seen a Local H Show before. So I am exited to take her. I am also trying to gather as many of our friends together to go with us. It should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait!

I Don’t Own A Printer

Office Space Printer

Yup, thats right. I don’t own a printer. It cost so much to own a printer in my opinion.

Actually, a printer itself is not that expensive. You can get a really nice printers these days for cheep. It’s just the outrageous cost of printer ink that keeps me from owning one.

I don’t have things I need printed everyday. From time to time I do have documents I need to printed. Sometimes I even want to print photos off for myself or friends and family. It’s not all that often. Maybe once, maybe twice a month I have something I want to print.

When I have something I need printed I will take it to a local print shop. I can print documents and photos for pennies compared tot he cost of buying a printer and ink, and hopping I use it often enough that the ink does not dry up before it’s empty. It’s just not worth the hassle or cost.