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Angoon picked first in FERC drawing

The City of Angoon has a slight edge on developing a hydropower
project at Ruth Lake in Southeast Alaska.
Three cities, including Angoon, Petersburg, and Wrangell, filed applications for a preliminary permit with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. One of the items FERC considers when choosing a permit winner is who filed first – but FERC officials said all three applications were received at the same time because they were filed electronically on the first day possible. So, Wednesday morning in Washington, FERC’s Secretary of the
Commission, Kimberly Bose, drew a name at random.
The City of Angoon was drawn first, then the City of Petersburg, and finally, the City of Wrangell. FERC’s Deputy Associate General Counsel for Energy Projects, John Katz, says this does not mean Angoon has won the permit itself. According to Katz, Ferc first considers the merits the applications – whether any of the three is better adapted to developing the water way in the public interest. So, Katz said, the drawing was “a back-up in the event the commission is not able to make that determination.”
Katz could not yet say when it will determine who has won the
preliminary permit. And, he said, that permit is only the first step
in developing a project. It allows a person to investigate a projects feasibility and location. The three-year, exclusive permit also gives the holder a priority in applying for a development license from FERC.
FERC regulates non-federal hydroelectric projects all around the
country. This was the first time the Commission ever had to break a
tie. It expects to do so more often in the future due to the increase
in electronic filings.
In the audio included with this story, FERC Deputy Associate General Counsel John Katz explains how the Commission will use the drawing result.

Hydro permit drawing will be tie breaker, if needed

The federal agency that regulates hydro electric power plants says it will consider the merits of three competing applications for a hydro plant in Thomas Bay north of Petersburg. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last month announced a first-of-its-kind random drawing to determine which of three preliminary permit applications from Petersburg, Wrangell and Angoon will be considered filed first. However, commission staff say the first-filed designation could be used as a tie breaker in determining which of the three communities is awarded a preliminary permit for the Ruth Lake project.

Cornelius opens solo show at Clausen Museum

Local painter Don Cornelius opens up a solo art show tonight at the Clausen Museum. The show is called “Wanderings” and features nearly 50 landscapes and portraits done in oil and alkyd paints. It’s Cornelis’ first solo show in five years, and it includes plein air paintings done in the past five years in the great outdoors of Alaska, British Columbia, Nevada, Utah, Wisconsin and the West Coast. Joe Viechnicki spoke with Cornelius about his latest work.

Fuglvog withdraws name for top fisheries post

A Petersburg fisherman is no longer in the running to head up the National Marine Fisheries Service. Arne Fuglvog, a fisheries aide to U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the tob job at the federal agency. In an email this week, Fuglvog writes that he was honored to be considered as a candidate and thanked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as the Department of Commerce for their consideration. He writes that he is humbled by the support he received in the process from around the country and looks forward to continue serving Alaska and Murkowski in the Senate. Murkowski said last week that Fuglvog had made the decision to stay on in his current job.

Dozens hard at work for annual quilt camp

Sewing machines were busily humming away at the Petersburg Lutheran Church’s Holy Cross House this week as at least 30 quilters from Alaska and the Lower 48 enjoy the Rain Country Quilters annual quilt camp. The camp’s featured instructor this year is Kim Diehl from Pocatello, Idaho. She's an award winning quilter and has authored four books on the subject, with a fifth on the way. Diehl taught several classes on machine techniques for applique, or layering of fabric. Joe Viechnicki stopped by camp and talked to a few of the participants.