Unalaska, AK – At a City Council work session Wednesday night, a consultant argued that Unalaska needs a third and possibly fourth diesel generator to keep up with energy demands in the community.

Michael Hubbard of the Financial Engineering Company, who consults on energy issues for the city, told the council that without two new units, increasing demand from some of the city's biggest power customers will easily outstrip power supply on the island. Pacific Stevedoring will need a lot of power for its new cold storage facility, and Hubbard said that both Horizon and American President Lines, the city's two biggest power customers, have said they'd like to shut down the generators that currently power half their operations.

"They self-generate now, but they'd like to come on the city's system," he said. "But the city can't right now, because they don't have sufficient capacity."

To meet those three demands would require that the city increase its power generation by about 75 percent. And he said that even if a geothermal power plant on Makushin happens, it's going to need backup.

"Makushin, if it's built, is a firm resource," he said. "But you still have to have the diesel capacity here on the island in the event that Makushin is offline, or the transmission cable is out for some reason."

The City Council work session was called after debate at recent council meetings over how necessary it was for the city to buy a third generator for the new powerhouse, a purchase that is budgeted at $4 million in the city's capital and major maintenance plan for the next five years.