The assembly has approved the rebuild of a fourth diesel generator at the power plant since 2022 as the borough works to ensure all of the units are available when needed as backup to keep the lights on in town.

At the Aug. 25 meeting, the assembly approved a $611,976 sole-source contract with Seattle-based Marine Systems Inc. to overhaul generator unit No. 2. 

The assembly had initially budgeted $650,000 for the work.

The diesel generators provide an essential backup for the power grid, should something happen to the Tyee Lake hydroelectric plant or the transmission line that delivers the electricity to town from the hydro plant on the mainland.

The Wrangell power plant’s five diesel units can generate about half as much power as Tyee, which Wrangell shares with Petersburg, sufficient to keep the town running.

“This will again create greater resiliency in these generators that have never been overhauled,” said Borough Manager Mason Villarma at the meeting. “We rely upon them to get us through a winter outage, the worst-case scenario.”

Villarma said this is one of the projects he was tasked with by the assembly when he hired as borough manager in 2024. 

The borough went with Marine Systems Inc. for the work because the company is the only U.S. West Coast supplier of parts and technical support for the brand of diesel generators, according to information presented to the assembly.

The same sole-source request was approved for the other three generators that were rebuilt.

The work on unit No. 2 will include a total rebuild of the center section of the generator, including bearings, gears and liners.

“That’s something that we were very concerned about. So this is good,” said Mayor Patty Gilbert.

The company reported in its price quote for the job that it will take several months to obtain the parts and equipment needed for the job.