After well over a month without municipal electricity, Akiak officials say that the disastrous failure of the community’s generators could be resolved this week.
Aleck Jackson, Akiak’s temporary city administrator, said that a mechanic has repaired one of three city-owned generators and is working to repair another.
“He said he should have that generator rebuilt within three days, four at the most,” Jackson said. “So either we should have our power back on (Wednesday or Thursday).”
A third generator is beyond repair, Jackson said. Meanwhile, much of the community has been relying on a patchwork system of personal generators. Some homeowners have modified their electrical meters to be able to run personal generators, which can make the process of reconnecting city power more complex.
On a joint salmon management call earlier this month, Akiak tribal member Mike Williams Sr. provided an update about the city’s continued generator trouble.
“The three generators that we have are fairly new, less than three years old,” Williams Sr. said. “But they’ve all managed to not work any more.”
The outage has been catastrophic for many who have lost freezers full of subsistence foods. Williams Sr. said that those who have personal generators are also struggling under the financial burden.
“Many of the families have emergency generators, and many of the families are running out of resources to keep their generators running because it costs between $200 and $300 a week to keep our food frozen,” Williams Sr. said. “So it’s a very sad situation up here in Akiak.”
Community members report that gas currently costs $6.72 per gallon in Akiak.
Akiak tribal member Shawna Williams and Alaska State House candidate Victoria Sosa have organized an online fundraiser to help alleviate the cost of running personal generators, and other regional and state entities have donated money, fuel, and food to support Akiak. Bethel Food Bank also sent representatives to Akiak on July 22 to help families who have lost food sign up for assistance.
Earlier this month, Akiak’s tribal government passed a disaster declaration requesting aid from state and federal officials. Jackson said that the city also tried to request disaster relief from the state.
“We tried to declare a disaster, but the state said this was not a disaster, it’s a state of emergency. We didn’t even get any aid to anybody, so it was just us paying the mechanic’s fees to work on our generators,” Jackson said. “But sometime this week, we should be having a meeting with the tribal office, along with (the Association of Village Council Presidents) about purchasing a bigger generator.”
On July 30, spokesperson Jeremy Zidek from the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that Akiak’s disaster declaration request was denied Saturday because it doesn’t meet the state qualifications for a disaster. That’s because the state found that Akiak’s generator failures happened because of a lack of proper maintenance. Zidek said that the issues with Akiak’s generators have to be addressed at the city level because it’s a city-owned utility.
State officials have been meeting with Akiak municipal and tribal officials, other regional and state partners and the Alaska Energy Authority — a state-owned corporation that supports local electrical operations — to come up with longer-term solutions to address Akiak’s generator failures.
