Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy

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sustainability@cityofsitka.org

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Sitka's Energy History

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Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy

Sitka Has Been Powered by Hydroelectricity for Over 100 Years!

For over a century, Sitka has been powered by hydroelectric electricity. Originally built because of the plentiful resource of rain, Sitka had a fortunate head start when it comes to renewable energy but as electrification continues and loads increase Sitka is once again at decision point to determine what comes next in terms of energy. Fortunately, we can learn a lot from the past as we ask ourselves what we want for the future.

1913-1947
The Sawmill Creek Project

1913
Sitka Warf and Power first dammed Sawmill Creek which is fed by Blue Lake.
1935
The community voted 67-21 to purchase the Sawmill Creek Project, but did not have the funds.
1937
The Sawmill Creek Project was rebuilt after flooding the previous year and valued at $125,000
1940
The community voted 104-22 to purchase the Sawmill Creek Project with a $200,000 bond. Sitka Public Utilities took ownership the following year.
1947
Another flood destroyed the hydroelectric project which completely halted operations.

Sitka from Mt. Verstovia in 1933. Image reference: Sitka Maritime Heritage Society

Aerial view of Herring Cove, the former site of the Alaska Pulp Mill, 2004.

1944-1957
The Blue Lake Project Design

1944
The initial planning for the Blue Lake Project began with 1948 designs placing the powerhouse at Herring Cove.
1956
Engineers Carey and Kramer began incorporating the concept of a pulp mill into the designs. The community voted 241-6 to issue a $6 million bond to fund construction but could not find buyers.
1957
A license application was submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with a $4.9 million estimate. Alaska Lumber and Pulp (AL&P) (later Alaska Pulp Corporation) required water for the mill, agreed to build a portion of the penstock tunnel and purchased $2.2 million in bonds which the City was struggling to sell.


1958-1961 The Blue Lake Project Construction 1958 The FERC license was issued was issued on a three phase construction plan: Phase I Initial 35 ft dam and penstock tunnel Phase II Add 120 ft to dam and build powerhouse Phase III Add 23 ft to dam and additional turbine 1959 Phase I was completed by the Sikta Pulp Mill Builders for $2.2 million The City continued to struggle to sell the remaining $3.8 million in bonds. The Federal government's Housing and Home Financing (later replaced by the USDA) offered financing if Sitka arranged power sales agreements with the US Public Health Service. Phase II was completed Morris and Knudsen for $2.4 million 1961 Phase III was completed for $4 million The Blue Lake Hydroelectric Project was completed for a total of ~$6 million. The Blue Lake Project added 44 GWh of capacity to ~60GWh per year, triple the annual load of 17 GWh.		The Blue Lake Project Phase I: A 35 ft tall dam an underground penstock tunnel, circa 1960.

1958-1961

The Blue Lake Project Construction

1958
The FERC license was issued was issued on a three phase construction plan:

Phase I Initial 35 ft dam and penstock tunnel
Phase II Add 120 ft to dam and build powerhouse
Phase III Add 23 ft to dam and additional turbine

1959
Phase I was completed by the Sikta Pulp Mill Builders for $2.2 million
The City continued to struggle to sell the remaining $3.8 million in bonds. The Federal government's Housing and Home Financing (later replaced by the USDA) offered financing if Sitka arranged power sales agreements with the US Public Health Service.
Phase II was completed Morris and Knudsen for $2.4 million
1961
Phase III was completed for $4 million
The Blue Lake Hydroelectric Project was completed for a total of ~$6 million.

The Blue Lake Project added 44 GWh of capacity to ~60GWh per year, triple the annual load of 17 GWh.

The Blue Lake Project Phase I: A 35 ft tall dam an underground penstock tunnel, circa 1960.

The Green Lake Hydroelectric Project, circa 1982

1974-1982
The Green Lake Project

The Green Lake Hydroelectric Project design began in when annual loads were approaching the 60 GWh maximum capacity and a series of series of dry years made Sitka's ability to meet demand uncertain.

1974
Initial project design began and was estimated to cost $21 million.
1977
The community voted 1540-89 to move forward with construction of the project.
1979
A license application was submitted to FERC with an estimated cost of $42 million. To help fund the project, the City increased rates 25% (from 8c/kWh to 10c/kWh ) and another 20% (10c/kWh to 12c/kWh) in 1980. Since Green Lake would take load off of Blue Lake, AL&P signed a surplus power sales agreement due to their need for water. This prevented the need for the City to raise the rates by 65% (from 10c/kWh to 16.5c/kWh).
1980
The main transmission line was upgraded from 34.5kV capacity to 69 kV to account for Blue Lake and the added Green Lake generation capacity.
1982
The Green Lake Hydroelectric Project was completed for $76 million.

The Green Lake Project included 2 new 9 MW turbines which added 58 GWh of generation, doubling Sitka's annual capacity.


1990 - Present Fish Valve Unit: A Small Hydroelectric Project To allow for power generation off water required to be released to maintain healthy salmon habitat in Sawmill Creek, CBS proposed putting in a small turbine in between the Blue Lake dam and powerhouse. This was called the Fish Valve Unit (FVU). 1990 A license was submitted to FERC with a project estimate of $3.9 million. 1992 FVU was built for $4.7 million. 1994 FVU was flooded and damaged by Sawmill Creek. 2014 The FVU was rebuilt as part of the Blue Lake Expansion (below).		The Fish Valve Unit, 2019. Water is required to be released to maintain salmon habitat. Rather than discharging directly, water passes through a small turbine before entering Sawmill Creek.

The Blue Lake Dam under construction in 2013. The original spillway can still be seen today.

2007-2015
The Blue Lake Expansion
Following increasing fuel oil prices and consistent annual energy load increases in Sitka, it was clear that a more robust and lasting energy system was needed to meet demands long-term.

2008
Plans and permits to raise the dam were submitted to FERC in when the initial 50 year Blue Lake Project license was set to expire. The initial cost was estimated at $100 million.
2010
CBS aimed to fund 50% of the project with grants and started looking for funding which was a significant challenge. The same year, the community voted 2595-373 to sell $50 million in bonds to fund the project.
2012
The FERC license was issued and general construction bids estimated the project to cost $145 million. The City issued additional bonds to cover the gap.
2014
The project was completed for $154 million and included:

Raising the 83 ft to the dam to its maximum possible height
Drilling new penstock tunnel
Reconstructing the powerhouse
Installing 3 new 8.5 MW turbines
Rebuilding the FVU
Installing 27 MW of back up diesel generators

The Blue Lake Expansion came fully online in early 2015, doubled the hydroelectric project's capacity to 15.9 MW and increased Sitka's total annual generation capacity 30% to ~160 GWh.

Today
The Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy (SCRES)

2020
CBS Assembly reestablished the Climate Action Task Force.
2022
The Climate Action Task Force sunset after recommending the establishment of a permanent Sustainability Commission to carry on the work and hire a Sustainability Coordinator to help make CBS more sustainable.
2023
The Sustainability Commission recommended CBS develop a community renewable energy strategy with help from the Energy Transitions Initiatives Partnership Project (ETIPP) program. With Assembly approval, CBS applied and was selected!
2024
The Sustainability Commission established the scope of the Sitka Community Renewable Energy Strategy to include:

A community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory
Energy education, including this website, a webinar series, and radio show based on community interests.
Community engagement workshops to establish a shared vision of Sitka’s energy future to guide energy-related community decisions by shaping a roadmap for community and policy actions that advance the shared energy vision. (Coming Winter 2025!)

Today, the Blue Lake Hydroelectric Project supplies 2/3 of Sitka's electricity.
Blue Lake is also Sitka's water source.
Photo by Lee House

What Can we Learn from Sitka's Century of Hydroelectric History?

Sitka has made large investments into hydroelectricity as it grown and approached its generation capacity.
However, the annual load growth is not tied to population. Even though Sitka's population is decreasing today, its annual load grows about 2% each year.

Sitkans Value the Benefits of Hydroelectricity, Despite High Upfront Costs.

When put to a vote, the community has overwhelmingly chosen to invest into hydroelectricity. Despite having one of highest upfront costs to build, hydroelectricity's long-lasting infrastructure and reliability means it can provide the most affordable electricity for generations when compared to other generation sources, renewable or not.

Sitka's Energy History has Repeated Itself, but it Doesn't Have to.
The Community Has an Active Role in Shaping Sitka's Energy Future.

As Sitka continues to electrify and becomes more reliant on its renewable energy infrastructure and climate change makes rainfall more unpredictable, Sitka's energy future could become more uncertain. Fortunately, the energy landscape has changed a lot in 100 years; new technology and materials means we can use electricity more efficiently and we have more options for additional generation than ever. As a municipally-owned, islanded microgrid, the community has a much more active role to play in how Sitka's energy future looks than in most of the world.

How Does Sitka Get Started?

The SCRES is an ongoing project, the best thing you can do is keep learning about energy through the SCRES site and sign up to get updates as new pages are made and workshops are scheduled.