SEAPA could raise rates to pay for submarine cable

Southeast Alaska Power Agency will likely have to raise rates to pay off bonding for the replacement of a damaged submarine cable, said SEAPA board voting member Bob Lynn at a Borough Assembly meeting Monday.

At a recent SEAPA board meeting, board members discussed bonding as a way to pay for the approximately $14 million replacement submarine cable. SEAPA has to pay Sumitomo, a Japanese firm, for the cable at one time, but $14 million is nearly all SEAPA has in financial assets, said Lynn. The SEAPA board is looking at the Alaska Bond Bank for bonding, but a decision hasn't been made yet. Lyn...