Swan Lake-Tyee Intertie

The Swan-Tyee Intertie is a 57 mile long 138-kilovolt (kv) transmission line in Southeast Alaska that will interconnect the electric system of Ketchikan to the Tyee Lake hydroelectric project.  Construction of the Swan-Tyee is presently underway.  Clearing for the right-of-way and installation of structure foundations was completed in 2008  Structure installation and stringing of conductor is planned to be accomplished in 2009 with the completion of the project scheduled for late 2009.

In addition to greater utilization of the energy generation capability of the Tyee Lake hydroelectric project, a significant benefit of the Swan-Tyee Intertie will be the interconnection of the Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg electric systems.  Integrated operation of the hydroelectric facilities in the interconnected system should improve overall utilization of the available hydroelectric resources.  System reliability should be improved through the ability to backup hydroelectric generating units in the system with other hydroelectric units.  Maintenance of the generating units can also be more effectively scheduled than can be accomplished with the non-interconnected systems that presently exist.

The Swan-Tyee Intertie will also serve as a significant component of a proposed Southeast Alaska electrical transmission system and will provide for long-term benefits in the ability to develop Southeast Alaska's significant hydroelectric potential in the future on a more cost effective regional basis rather than on a community by community basis.