MEA and ENSTAR officials reflect on work that followed Nov. 30, 2018, earthquake

WASILLA — One year after the infamous 7.1 earthquake that shook Southcentral Alaska, Matanuska Electric Association and ENSTAR reflected on the Mat-Su Valley earthquake experience from a utility standpoint.

Both companies expressed immense gratitude towards their staff, collaborating groups and agencies and the community for the quick response during a major event and subsequent aftermath that left everyone shaken but undeterred.

On Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rattled the state of Alaska at 8:29 a.m. The epicenter was none other than Point Mackenzie, just seven miles north of Anchorage on the outskirts of the Valley.

MEA

Julie Estey, MEA director of external affairs, said the first order of business was safely evacuating everyone out of the building. Once employee safety was ensured, they sent some non-essential staff home and everyone else dove right into the response.

“I mean, the minute it stopped shaking, the line crews rolled out,” Estey said. “I’m sure they called their families and made sure they were okay but they really put our members above all else for power restoration.”

Many people across the Valley lost power immediately. Sixteen out of 22 MEA substations went out during the quake, according to Estey. A tsunami of phone calls started to roll in.

“It flooded our reporting system,” Estey said.

MEA sent out crews to fully assess the affected substations all the way from Eagle River to Talkeetna.

“It’s a pretty wide range,” Estey said.

Quite a few substations were easy to get back online while others suffered significant damage, according to Estey. She said a few substations in Big Lake and Eagle River were hit particularly hard.

MEA coordinated with state and borough officials along with emergency response teams from the borough and Municipality of Anchorage to get the power back on as soon as possible.

“We had a lot of folks helping us out,” Estey said.

In less than 24 hours, MEA was able to restore power to the Valley and Eagle River. Some substations in both areas required further attention, so they rerouted power until final repairs could be made.

“Our line crew was pretty awesome,” Estey said.

All major repairs have been made. The only remaining tasks left related to the quake are cosmetic fixes to cracks in the main building and some minor repairs to substation in Talkeetna which is fully functional, according to Estey.

Estey pointed out how thankful everyone was discovering the main power plant survived the whole ordeal.

MEA recently sent an application to FEMA for financial relief for repair costs. Estey said as a member owned co-op, the financial aid would certainly help a lot.

“So we don’t have to burden our members with those costs… It would be really great for all of us,” Estey said.

Estey said that everyone at MEA learned a lot from the earthquake which helped with subsequent disasters like the McKinley Fire.

“A lot of those lessons that we learned from the earthquake have only helped us respond in a more proactive and effective way as we keep taking whatever Mother Nature has to give us,” Estey said with a laugh. “The power must stay on.”

ENSTAR

Immediately following the earthquake, ENSTAR evacuated all employees from the building, Lindsay Hobson, ENSTAR communications manager, said.

They determined their administrative building was not safe to reenter but they knew the wave of customer calls were already on their way so they quickly set up a call center. They sent their customer service representatives to the operations building.

“So they just kind of took over whatever office, sat at a chair and a phone, and logged into the cue from there so we could get our customer service phone cue up and running as quickly as possible,” Hobson said.

During that fateful day, ENSTAR received an approximate 1,600 emergency calls from customers, according to Hobson. To put the sheer number of people affected into perspective, she noted they received from 2,100 emergency calls from the last 10 months.

Hobson said they switched to a 24-hour phone service, sending crews to calls all hours of day.

ENSTAR also immediately sent out employees to inspect various buildings and structures for gas leaks, starting with areas like schools, churches, and hospitals, according to Hobson.

They discovered a number of leaks during the inspection. Several customers reported the smell of gas and others stated they didn’t smell gas but they turned off their gas just in case.

Hobson made an important note to the public: do not shut off the gas if there are no signs of a leak because once the gas is shut off, it’s off. It cannot be turned back on by anyone other than an ENSTAR employee or licensed plumber.

Hobson said they received assistance from 12 gas technicians from Michigan to speed up their response.

“Given the time of year, it’s very cold and we wanted to restore gas as quickly as possible,” Hobson said.

Vine Road was hit pretty hard by the quake. ENSTAR quickly discovered a transmission and distribution line along the road moved about eight feet. They began monitoring the line for leaks periodically, according to Hobson. She said the line was safe but needed to be repaired. Crews worked throughout the summer and the project concluded this fall.

“Looking back, we certainly have some takeaways,” Hobson said.

One of the main takeaways is a chance to educate the public so they know how to detect a gas leak, when to shut off their gas meter, and when to evacuate. Since gas is odorless, it’s infused with an additive to give it that sulfur and rotten egg smell to ensure detection.

“We always say: smell, look, listen and leave,” Hobson said.

To report gas leaks, damaged pipelines, or another gas related emergencies, call 1-844-SMELL GAS (1-844-763-5542).

For more information on detecting and reporting gas leaks, visit enstarnaturalgas.com/safety-education/report-a-gas-leak

To report power outages to MEA, call 907-746-POWR (7697). For more information about safety or other topics, visit mea.coop

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com