The line that powers Petersburg would leave federal license oversight

Petersburg gets its electricity from Tyee Lake over a transmission line nearly 80 miles long. The public agency that runs it wants that line taken out of its federal license.

The Southeast Alaska Power Agency says building the Swan-Tyee Intertie, which ties its two hydro systems together, changed the line's role. It is no longer the project's main transmission line, SEAPA argues, and so no longer belongs in the licensed project. Nothing would change on the ground. SEAPA says it would keep operating and maintaining the line as it always has.

What would change is who has authority over it. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's notice says jurisdiction over the line's right-of-way would pass to the current landowners, without naming them. A related notice says the project sits on Forest Service land in the Tongass National Forest.

It is the second line SEAPA has asked to pull from federal licensing this year. The other runs from Swan Lake to Bailey. Both requests come as the agency starts renewing its license, which expires in 2031; relicensing opened in April.

The Tyee Lake hydro project, on Tyee Creek in the Wrangell Borough, supplies Wrangell and Petersburg. Comments on both requests close Oct. 15.