**Title**: Energy in the North - Bill Stamm
**Date**: February 25, 2026
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Bill Stamm


00;00;00;12 - 00;00;09;21 [Bill Stamm] We get typically over 60,000 hours, often over 100,000 hours on engines before they're completely replaced. They get overhauled every 20,000 hours.

00;00;09;21 - 00;00;38;00 [Amanda Byrd] This week on energy in the North, I speak to Bill Stamm, the CEO of Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, the utility serving 59 communities across Alaska in every region except the North Slope. In every community, there's a power plant, and in just about every power plant that I've been into, there's a clipboard with a paper maintenance schedule next to every diesel engine. I began the conversation with Bill by asking him if a power plant maintenance schedule is still a paper and pen system.

00;00;38;00 - 00;01;12;16 [Bill Stamm] Yep. You know, we don't have broadband connectivity to all of our plants. We're working on that. We're also working on building out a system control and data acquisition or SCADA system for those plants. We actually have an intern from Department of Energy helping us build out that program. But it all takes funding and manpower in order to get that established. So right now, it is a paper clipboard. And once a week we ask them the fax that in and sometimes you have to still call and remind folks to fax in their plant logs so we can keep track of what's going on.

00;01;12;16 - 00;01;28;11 [Amanda Byrd] Having diesel engines in remote communities that are powering everything. Homes, schools, office buildings, tribal halls. There must be a lot of wear and tear that goes on to those engines.

00;01;28;11 - 00;02;06;04 [Bill Stamm] Certainly. We do a pretty good job of maintaining our engines. We get typically over 60,000 hours, often over 100,000 hours on engines before they're completely replaced. They get overhauled every 20,000 hours. sorts of things. But, lots of filter changes, lots of oil changes, lots of just general maintenance, making sure that any new weeps or drips are looked after, fuel pump replacements and water pump replacements and radiator fan replacements. And there's a lot of moving parts that have to have continual maintenance.

00;02;06;04 - 00;02;35;13 [Amanda Byrd] And I know in, some other energy realms in remote communities, like I was working in the biomass area, finding people in town to stroke the boiler
 Just the manpower, the human resources side of managing a system like a diesel generator. Or you know, wind farm or anything like that must be really hard to find people that are going to be there consistently.

00;02;35;13 - 00;03;53;2 [Bill Stamm] It is. And it can be feast or famine. Sometimes you have operators that are there for 20 and 30 years, and they finally get tired and want to retire, and there's nobody there to follow behind them. Some communities, they have people vying for the position and want to be a plant operator. Other communities, there's not much interest. It really is. You know, with 58 communities, you get a broad, selection. But, we do take pains to try to train operators. So we have a traveling plant operator trainer. We also take advantage of the AVTEC system, where plant operators can go to Seward and learn some more. In-depth maintenance techniques for keeping track of their power plant. But that can be difficult for folks that are living in a remote community that might have other job responsibilities. Typically that plant operators are not full time operators. They're expected to be at the plant three times a day to check the plant, to go through basic checklist. And if everything's working properly, there's not much else for them to do. they are often employed in some other profession, and it's difficult just to take 2 or 3 weeks off for training, go somewhere else and not be home can be difficult to get, more in-depth training.

00;03;53;24 - 00;03;57;06 [Amanda Byrd] Bill Stamm is the CEO of Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, and I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. Find this story and more at uaf.edu/acep.