Tag: homer electric association
HEA Experiences Peninsula Wide Outage
by Joe Gallagher
Homer Electric Association (HEA) members experienced a system wide power outage late Monday afternoon.
The outage started at 4:15 pm when a fault occurred on a high voltage transmission line that runs from the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Plant through Homer and on to Soldotna.
The fault appeared to take place somewhere between Bradley Lake and Diamond Ridge in Homer. The incident was serious enough to create a loss of voltage on the entire HEA system and resulted in an outage from Kachemak Bay north to Nikiski.
HEA was able to restore power to Nikiski, Kenai, Beaver Creek, Ridgeway, and Sterling by 5:45 pm and had restoration to the rest of the HEA system completed at 8:25 pm.
The duration and size of the outage was compounded by the fact that there are two transmission related construction projects underway. A small section of the transmission line between Soldotna and Funny River is out of service due to construction work at the HEA substation in Soldotna. In addition, both HEA and Chugach Electric are working on the transmission system between Soldotna and Cooper Landing. This situation complicated and delayed the restoration efforts from Soldotna south to Homer.
An overflight of the transmission line between Bradley Lake and Homer failed to locate any obvious cause for the fault on the line. Possibilities include a lightning strike, a tree on the line or a possible bird contact. HEA will continue to investigate the cause of the outage.
Homer Electric Association dedicates Nikiski Generation Plant and hosts Annual Meeting
by Joe Gallagher
Homer Electric Association celebrated a cooperative milestone with a ceremony at its Nikiski Generation Plant on May 1, 2014. Approximately 100 members and employees attended the ribbon cutting and dedication of the Nikiski Generation Plant, as well as tours of the plant and Bernice Lake Plant.
Later that evening, members elected three directors at the cooperative’s Annual Meeting of the Members in Soldotna. Each incumbent in the three districts ran uncontested in this year’s election.
In District 1 (Kenai – Nikiski – parts of Soldotna area), incumbent director Kelly Bookey of Kenai was re-elected with 861 votes.
In District 2 (Soldotna – Sterling- Kasilof area), incumbent director Dick Waisanen was re-elected with 983 votes.
In District 3 (South Kasilof – Kachemak Bay area), incumbent director Don Seelinger of Seldovia was re-elected with 1,027 votes.
Following the Annual Meeting, the HEA Board of Directors met to elect officers for the upcoming year.
Dick Waisanen of Soldotna was selected to serve as President, Bill Fry of Homer was named Vice-President, David Thomas of Kenai was named Secretary/Treasurer and Jim Levine of Homer will be the Deputy Secretary.
HEA to host Nikiski Plant Dedication, Tours, and Annual Meeting on May 1st
by Joe Gallagher
Homer Electric Association will dedicate the new Nikiski Generation Plant on Thursday, May 1st, at 10 am. The ceremony will take place at the plant located at 48169 Kenai Spur Highway with parking available at the adjacent Agrium facility.
Following the dedication ceremony, public tours of the Nikiski Generation Plant and the Bernice Lake Generation Plant will be provided until 3 pm.
Later in the day, HEA will host its Annual Meeting at Soldotna High School. Registration for the meeting will begin at 4:30 pm and close at 6:30 pm. The business meeting will start in the Soldotna High School auditorium at 6:00 pm.
The Annual Meeting will feature food, refreshments, informational booths, election results, an update from the General Manager on HEA issues, and attendance door prize drawings, including a grand prize drawing for a free year of electricity (up to 10,000 kilowatt hours).
Additional information about the dedication ceremony, tours and Annual Meeting is available at www.homerelectric.com
For additional information contact Joe Gallagher at (907) 283-2324
Generation Plant will Provide Power to South Kachemak Bay Communities
Public Service Announcement
UPDATE: Friday April 11, 2014 at 9:00am
“Good morning…….our crew finished up the pole replacement yesterday evening and the switch from generation to regular power took place at about 5:40 pm. The outage was about two minutes. We are back in normal operations.” – Joe Gallagher
DATE: April 8, 2014
Generation plant will provide power to South Kachemak Bay communities
Homer Electric Association is planning to operate the Gerry Willard Generation Plant in Seldovia from Wednesday morning, April 9th, at approximately 9:00 am until approximately 3:30 pm on Friday, April 11th.
The plant will provide power to Nanwalek, Port Graham and Seldovia while an HEA crew works in the Little Tutka Bay area. The crew will be replacing poles that were damaged in storms earlier this year.
There will not be a power interruption when the generation goes on line on Wednesday, but there will be a short (approximately five minutes) outage on Friday afternoon when the system is put back into normal operations.
As always, please take steps to protect all sensitive electronic equipment in your home and business.
For additional information, please call 1-800-478-8551
Seldovia Time
