**Title**: Energy in the North - Kate Thomas
**Date**: November, 19 2025
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Kate Thomas


00;00;00;10 - 00;00;03;01 [Kate Thomas] Fun fact - you can't have babies on Wrangell Island.

00;00;03;01 - 00;00;42;18 [Amanda Byrd] This week on energy in the North, I speak with Kate Thomas, Economic Development Director for the City and Borough of Wrangell. Wrangell is located on Wrangell Island in Southeast Alaska, in the panhandle between Ketchikan and Petersburg. The island is 40 miles long and around 20 miles wide at its widest, and houses around 2030 residents. The local hydroelectric facility, Tyee Lake is located on the mainland in the Bradfield Canal and services Wrangell and Petersburg. Swan Lake Hydro Services, Ketchikan. They're both managed by Southeast Alaska Power Authority, otherwise known as SEPA, and I began the conversation by asking Kate if the low cost hydropower means that Wrangell has a large industrial user.

00;00;42;18 - 00;00;47;13 [Kate Thomas] We do have our seafood processors that probably draw on the most energy within the community during the height of their season. And then our greatest demand is in the winter season. And sometimes we have to supplement with diesel power because we have limited capacity based on the energy and resource sharing agreement between the two communities.

00;00;47;13 - 00;01;05;10 [Amanda Byrd] So, generating with diesel must really increase the cost for residents.

00;01;05;10 - 00;01;21;15 [Kate Thomas] Yes. You can definitely see it. Between the months, and the Borough typically puts out a PSA just to encourage people to reduce consumption through various means so that they can offset the expense

00;01;21;15 - 00;01;23;01 [Amanda Byrd] Heating homes?

00;01;23;01 - 00;02;06;07 [Kate Thomas] I think it's a combination. Still, a lot of people have wood fired, heating systems in their homes. So just your typical wood stove. There's obviously lots of timber available in the Southeast region. There are still a number of Toyo-style diesel fuel stoves in homes, but a lot of people are transitioning away from diesel and into more efficient heating systems through heat pumps. Southeast Conference has done kind of a regional effort through Alaska heat smart, I think is the organization. And, they are providing rebates and supplemental funding for folks that want to transition from old energy systems to to new heating systems.

00;02;06;07 - 00;02;17;21 [Amanda Byrd] There’s kind of an interesting issue there with the demand on the already, maybe, shortage in power with hydro and an increase in heat pump uptick.

00;02;17;21 - 00;03;47;23 [Kate Thomas] Yeah. For sure. And hopefully with the efficiency of the heat pumps, you kind of reduce that because I do think that there's still a number of houses, I think there's 1300 housing units in Wrangell, off those, how many are on like old school baseboard heating or individual heat units within the house? Obviously, things are getting way more efficient now through supplemental heat in your home if you don't have a ducking system. But certainly not as efficient as the new modern heat pumps are. So would it be an increase in demand? Or would it probably kind of be, you know, a stalemate between previous infrastructure and new systems? So not really sure. We'll have to see what that will look like. We also have lost 29%, I think the economist said this morning, of our workforce age group. And so, you know, as we continue to press growth in different industries and sectors, you know, it's kind of attracting new residents as well because we just don't have enough workforce. We are one of the oldest aging communities in the state of Alaska. So that's kind of a unique feature. And, certainly seeing an increase birth rate more recently. But, fun fact - you can't have babies on Wrangell Island - you have to fly somewhere else to have babies. So some of those early starting periods of, family development, you know, have some challenges in that way.

00;03;47;23 - 00;03;51;23 [Amanda Byrd] Kate Thomas is the Economic Development Director for the City and Borough of Wrangell, and I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. Find this story and more at uaf.edu/acep.