Rural Alaska

Newtok loses power after generator breaks down

Newtok was without power through the weekend after its generator stopped working Saturday afternoon, according to Tom John, tribal administrator for the Newtok Village Council.

John said everyone in the Western Alaska village of 375 is OK. Those without power were staying at the school, which is powered by its own generator.

Romy Cadiente, a mechanic at the Ungusraq Power Co., said Newtok's 25-year-old diesel generator stopped working unexpectedly at about 2 p.m. Saturday. He said an emergency team from the Alaska Energy Authority was en route to replace the generator engine. He said they would likely arrive in Newtok in "the next day or so."

Cadiente said Newtok has gotten help, including donations of firewood, from nearby villages, state agencies and the Coastal Villages Region Fund.

"I know this was supposed to be a long weekend for them, but tell them thank you from all 375 of us," Cadiente said in a phone interview Monday.

Newtok is one of several Alaska villages considering relocation as a result of erosion. Cadiente said most people heat their homes with oil-powered Toyo stoves and boilers, which need electricity to operate. He said only a few homes in Newtok have their own generators; the rest rely on city power to operate.

Cadiente said it was windy and cold over the weekend but the weather was improving. He said it was sunny Monday, with little wind and temperatures hovering in the high teens to low 20s.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed which agency is responding to fix the generator in Newtok. The responding agency is the Alaska Energy Authority, not the Alaska Village Electrical Cooperative.

Suzanna Caldwell

Suzanna Caldwell is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in 2017.

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