KEfl's History ©ne of Continued Growth
In Supplying Power To This Community
By Leon Johnson
The Kodiak Electric Association,
better known as KEA, is a rural
electric cooperative furnishing
power to the City of Kodiak and
its environs.
Its origin dates back to August
11, 1941 when the Articles of In
corporation were drawn up, al
though actual generation and dis
tribution of electric energy by the
Cooperative did not take place un
til August 1942. Instrumental in
the formation of the Kodiak Elec
tric Assoc, were: Chas. D. Hopp,
first board president, Talmage L.
Smith, M. J. Lough ran, Florence
Helsel, Ray Martin, J. N. Steffgen,
Norris K. Porter, Wes Rheades and
Roy Snyder.
Prior to formation of the Co
operative, a group of local busin
ess men operating as the “Com
munity Power Company” were en
deavoring to serve the central town
area, but the overnight influx of
population occasioned by World
War II created a demand for larg
er and better electrical facilities
for the community at large.
The Kodiak Electric Association
applied to the Rural Electrifica
tion Administration for its original
loan of $125,000.00 for the purpose
of buying out the Community
Power Co. (whose assets included
three Caterpillars and a mobile
trailer unit—familiar to oldtimers
—bousing two International die
sels) and for the renovation of the
existing power lines serving the
main sections of town.
In 1942, first year of operation,
the office of the Cooperative was
located in a small lean to build
i r —111
ng, formerly tilie “power plant”
of the W. J. Erskine Company. In
fact, believe it or not, the Man
ager’s first desk was the engine
block of this power plant. Some
180 consumers were billed from
this “office” and the employees at
that time were:
Eino Kainulanen, Manager, Op
erators, George Evans. Fred Sar
gent, Bill Robertson and Larry
Cope. Alice Given, bookkeeper/bil
ling clerk. It is interesting to :io‘e
that the Cooperative at that stage
did not have a lineman although
the services of John W. Farrow
were obtained a short time later.
It was again soon apparent that
the electric facilities for the C't’
of Kodiak were not keeping pace
with increased demands. “Service”
was only a word in the minds of
most of the residents of the city
and at times voltage at the consum
er’s meter was so poor that plugg
ing in a toasterwoul d pract'cahv
turn out the lights in one’s home.
Because of these conditions it was
necessary to ration power to var
ious sect:ons of the city each even
ing and business signs were “black
ed out” in order to keep minimum
power available to all.
To alleviate the situation the
KEA board requested an addition
al loan from REA for the con
struction of a generating plant as
well as line rehabilitation and
line extension programs. On Au
gust 5, 1943, a second loan in the
amount of $100,000.00 was approv
ed for these purposes.
The present generating plant
was then constructed and two 200
KW Buckey units installed in ad
dition to the three Caterp liar
units removed from the previous
s i 3. While in the process of i.on
_ Iruction one of the frequent
“wilhvaws” visited the area re
moving the roof from the new
plant and sett ng it down intact
on Near Island. The contractor
J. N. Steifgen, retrieved the roof
and reassembled the buildin f.
KEA’s new plant, which, inoiden
ally is built on land formerly own
ed hv a Jamme e. Mr. Yos d
rinr*ed onsrat’ons in March 19"”.
Omn house was held to celebrate
this milestone and beer and sand
wiches served to the pubi c, >v
• -"--.c ror which were “disallow
ed”, by the Gov't.
The 2109 vo’t diMr but'on .ays
tem was extenrle.d alon iVfiss'on
Ro-.d as ,r'ar as the Baptist Mis ion
and the Johnson residence' low
ever due to Government restr e
t'mr. and wartime cood'tf.an', the
great majority of people in the
amoa were no* given electric ser
vice because of lack of priorities
for needed materials.
W thin another four pears the
KEA plant, constructed under war
time conditions and necessarily
limited in scope, found itself, for
the second time in its history un
cible to meet increased power loads
f. om the rapidly growing city, With
resultant power failures, engine
breakdowns and general poor rer
vice. Despite the urgent need for
en arced facilities 't was sometime
before the KEA board wa:; uble to
secure another loan and uhe < ity
continued in many :nrtances to be
short of p: oper electrical service.
More More More
On Aur'I !, 19 13 the present 7200
vo't distribution system was > om
mence 7. Construction was manly
by Naval Air Station personnel,
vOik n evenings and weekends,
under the d rection of Thomas L.
Boyle of the Victor C. Rivers Com
pany. The system when finished
was some 19 miles in length and
served approximately 600 con
sumers.
In March 1950 two new diesel
units of 483 KW each, replaced the
.area Caterpillars and brought
’iEA’s totai generating capacity
un o 1368 KW
Larly in the operation of the
n .v 7200 volt system great diffi
culty was experienced in maintain
ed uninterrupted service because
of salt contamination caused by
high winds. This condition became
so acute that in one 24-hour period
2> outages were experienced. Salt
ontnnrnat'on continued to be the
; ’gaiboo of the new system and
onsiderable sums of money were
i cnit on preventative maintetn
:-n o. It has since been noticed
that the completion of Kodiak’s
mall boat harbor has acted rs a
buffer and considerably reduced
troubles from salt water spray.
KEA’s board of directors, pro
fling by trials and tribulations
o' earlier boards and intent that
TEA shall not be caught short in
availability of power, ccttftpleted
arrangements on November 1,
1951 to borrow fom BE A $33®,
f 0.00. Th;s new loan enabled our
cooperative to increase generat
ing and distribution facilities, add
ing a new 8 - cylinder generating
mil, extending power lines and
servicing the Aleutian Homes
rrea.
In 1958-57 power loads had again
risen and the plant was taxed to
its maximum capacity. The board
of directors decided to increase
the generating facilities based on
needs for a 10-year period. Addi
tional loan funds were obtained
from REA. The two Buckeye die
sel units, installed wrhen the pre
sent plant was built, were replac
ed by two much larger Enterprise
units in 1957 and 1958 at a total
cost of $145,953.00. This brought
our plant capacity to 3213 KW
which necessitated a larger sub
station. A 3000 KVA substation
was built across the street from
the plant—completed in 1959 at
a cost of $60,000.
From a small beginning in the
W. J. Erskine building, KEA to
day boasts 1200 consumers though
still having 29 miles of line, giving
a density of 41 consumers per
mile — the envy of other state
cooperatives.
An ironical fact is that while
securing its loan funds from tip
Rural Rlectrication Administra
tion, KEA does not to date serve
a single farm.
Present employees $f tfiie oo
operatve are as sfloHsaws: “'©%}”
Johnson, masaager 11 years; A'Moe
Given, bookkeeper 18 years; 3SJairy
MoWry, fh>iMi»g clerk 6 years; franalk
Kozafli, Etajechanic 11 years; Jtahm
Given, operator 16 years; Hill
8&atoertewn, operator 14 years: Niek
Shuravloff, operator 16 years, J‘®ia®
Rogers, lineman 10 years; Joitoa
Ohya, a&etor reader IS yean®;
Harold Alexander, Imemm 4
years.
Put the finest label
on your ta&te
Milter's High Life
Breaker’s Liquor Store
o 111 jitcw
If you have something to sell
try a classified ad to Ike Mirror.
They bring quick results.
T~rn~~' T»~ ' •"n~r~~n-rr-1-im
ISE OF ELECT RICAL POWER MAKES FOR PR08RESS
We are Proud
To be a Part
of the PROGRESS
of KODIAK
f
.
.
Owned and
Operated by the
1250 C&nsumers
it SERVES:
m
* ;
Generating Plant Located on Tagura Rd.)
(Interior View of our Modern Diesel Electric
Kodiak El c' c Ass'n One.
Radio Con tro I Id Vehicles For Better Service