After the remnants of Typhoon Halong swept through Tuntutuliak in the fall of 2025 – causing widespread damage to homes and infrastructure – fuel consumption in the community spiked.
"People were using their dryers trying to dry up their stuff, more heaters, contractors, you know, using electricity to work on homes. All those are the factors," Carl Andrew said.
Andrew has managed the community’s power utility, TCSA, for the past 20 years. He said fuel needs at the power plant increased by roughly 2,000 gallons a week, immediately after the storm. In late February 2026, Andrew said he checked to see how fuel levels were doing.
"We dip our tank tanks every year, this time of the year, to make sure we have enough," Andrew said.
Andrew realized the power plant was set to run out of fuel as early as mid-April, which would leave the community without electricity a month and half before the arrival of the first fuel barge of the season.
Around the same time, Kuskokwim River Ice Road crews had completed an extension linking Tuntutuliak to the hub of Bethel for the first time in six years to aid with Halong relief efforts. Andrew said he saw an opportunity. He estimated the power plant would need more than 8,000 gallons of fuel to make it to spring. The sole supplier able to deliver from Bethel over the ice road, Top Fuel, quoted Andrew at $13.60 per gallon. Andrew said the money wasn’t there to make an up-front payment.
Carl said he had already been in close contact with state Rep. Nellie Jimmie’s office for help navigating the federal disaster relief process – detailing storm losses for the utility covered under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s public assistance program.
"Drums of oil, drums of coolant, tools in the tool shed, snowmachine, stuff like that," Andrew said.
But the fuel needs at the power plant were immediate. Jimmie’s office proposed what appeared to be the only solution – taking out an additional loan from the state bulk fuel program that the utility already relies on to pay for its annual fuel needs.
Jimmie’s chief of staff, Rachael Gunn, said Jimmie’s office was able to help expedite the loan process. She said the roughly $114,000 price tag for the fuel delivery would be far higher if not for the ice road extension.
"The speed of the loan, with the ice road being in good condition and not having gone through a storm, was absolutely paramount ... to get the fuel delivered so that we could get it at that $13.60 a gallon and not have to have it flown in in small amounts," Gunn said.
On March 11, Tuntutuliak’s utility received its fuel. Andrew said he hopes it’s enough to make it through until barge season, and that he can come up with a way to pay back the bulk fuel loan.
"Not too sure you know where we'll get the funds to pay for that," Andrew said.
Gunn said Jimmie’s office is working with state and federal agencies to find a solution, such as rolling the emergency loan into next year’s bulk fuel loan. She said the crisis in Tuntutuliak is a direct result of the October 2025 storm, but that proving this for the purposes of receiving federal relief is tricky.
"Even though the day after the storm the fuel shot up, FEMA has got these incredibly prescriptive requirements for what is able to be attributed to the disaster," Gunn said.
For communities still rebuilding from severe storm damage, the arrival of spring will mean much cheaper barged fuel. Until then, Tuntutuliak has found a way to keep the power on. But without some sort of reimbursement, Andrew said the utility may soon be in the red. He said the first monthly payment for the emergency fuel loan from the state is due April 1.
