Power problems continued Thursday night, with at least two additional outages taking out part of the grid. Assistant City Manager Patrick Jordan says the city knows the outages are related to large industrial users, but is still trying to figure out who exactly is causing the problem.

“We haven’t pinpointed that," Jordan says. "We don’t have the ability to pinpoint that with the system that we now have. But we are in communication with all of our industries, all of our peak users, trying to get them to ramp up slower and shut down slower so there aren’t any shocks to the system. And watch their use, just try to moderate their use.”

This is a peak processing time for Unalaska, when the power load is at its highest. But Jordan says it’s unlikely that the city is reaching the limits of its generating capacity. According to the city’s website, Unalaska's powerhouse has a capacity of 17.6MW. Jordan says Public Works and Utilities is trying to troubleshoot what else could be triggering the shutdowns.

“Trending various circuits to find out what the usage looks like. What the peaks are and what the valleys are, and are there any shocks to the system. Instant demands and instant reductions in demand. Those are the kinds of things -- the reduction in demand -- is what triggers our breakers to pop, protecting our engines, the multi-million dollar engines that we have.”

Jordan recommends that people use surge protectors to keep their electronics safe during outages.