Resilience for Metlakatla Indian Community’s Power Grid

Accessible only by boat or plane, and isolated from the wider electric grid, the Metlakatla Indian Community, located on Annette Island in southeastern Alaska, knows a thing or two about self-sufficiency. However, increasingly over the last decade or so, changing climatic conditions and precipitation amounts have exposed a vulnerability in their community’s reliance on mountain lake hydro-power reservoirs and forced them to barge in diesel fuel for use in large backup generators. The community has been working with Baker Tilly over the last couple of years to develop and execute a multi-step plan for ensuring reliable power for generations to come, starting with restructuring and modernizing their utility organization.

Capital City Renewables is thrilled to work with Baker Tilly, WES Engineering, and the Metlakatla Indian Community on the next phase of their resiliency plan, which involves a wind resource study to explore the possibility of adding another source of power: wind energy. CCR crews retrofitted an existing retired radio tower with wind measurement instruments, and also installed a ground-based LiDAR unit to measure the vertical wind profile up to hub height and beyond. Metlakatla Power & Light was receptive and keen to assist with the effort during the installation and afterwards with diligently collecting data. CCR knows the importance of this phase of a wind project and looks forward to the study results and to a stronger utility grid in Metlakatla.