Power has been restored to the village of Newtok in southwestern Alaska after the community’s only generator malfunctioned over the weekend.
KTUU-TV reports that the village was supplied with electricity Wednesday night after a temporary replacement generator was brought in Tuesday.
Newtok residents had been without power since Saturday, when the 25-year-old generator broke down.
The local school had functioned as an emergency shelter during the outage and people burned cardboard to heat their homes.
Alaska Energy Authority officials say nearly $30,000 has been spent in getting emergency power restored to Newtok.
A permanent replacement generator is being stored in Anchorage. The state just needs to figure out a way to transport the 2,500 pound machine.
