Economy

Dangerous highways, old bridges and the Alaska Class ferry top the Alaska Statewide Transportation Improvement Program over the next four years.

The STIP is Alaska’s list of priority state and local projects from 2012 through 2015 eligible for partial or full federal funding. The Federal Highway Administration requires all state transportation departments to put together a STIP.

Juneau projects include a new Brotherhood Bridge, a multi-use pathway between the bridge and the UAS campus, Egan Highway resurfacing, and a new outbound lane at the Salmon Creek and Egan intersection near Bartlett Regional Hospital.

This report outilines statewide priorities and funding issues.

Electric bills that go out today (Tuesday) will reflect another rate increase.

As KTOO has reported, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska late Friday approved Alaska Electric Light and Power’s petition for a permanent 24 percent rate hike. It turns out to be 22 percent on the average electric bill.

Most of that is already in place, since the RCA allowed the company to increase rates 18.5 percent in July 2010.

A-E-L & P spokesman Scott Willis says residential customers will pay about $2 to $3 more a month for electricity.

“As of last week we were paying 9 point 5 cents a kilowatt hour then on Tuesday that will go up to 9 point 8 cents a kilowatt hour and on the first of November it goes up to 11 point 94, that’s the seasonal jump,” Willis says. “Next June it goes back down to 9-point 8 (cents).”

The order has been 16 months in the making.  This report highlights some of the commission’s findings.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has approved an increase in Juneau’s electricity rates. After 16 months of study, review and several public hearings, the commission says Alaska Electric Light and Power is justified in raising rates another 4 percent, effective immediately.

The RCA released the order about 8 p.m. Friday.

The privately owned utility company requested the 24 percent increase in May 2010. The commission allowed the company to begin charging 20 percent of that in July 2010.

The across the board rate hike actually shows up less on monthly bills, says AELP spokesman Scott Willis:

“The interim rate raised the average electric bill about 18 and a half percent and the final rate raised it to a total of 22 percent,” Willis says.

Customers will now see an increase of about 3 and a half percent. In monetary terms, that’s about $2 to $3 more a month at an average household use of 750 kilowatt hours per month.

The commission’s 44-page order details all the arguments put forth by the company, the state attorney general’s office and a citizen’s group, Juneau People Power Project. Listen to Morning Edition for more details.
To read the RCA’s order click here (PDF).

The national chain OfficeMax is coming to Juneau. The office supply company says it will serve all of Southeast Alaska.

OfficeMax plans to open a retail store in Nugget Mall early next year. It owns two stores in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks.

OfficeMax already has business contract customers throughout Southeast Alaska, according to company spokeswoman Nicole Miller.

“We see this as a natural desire to expand our products and services to this area of the state,” Miller says. “We do have some customers from the region that do go up and get service out of our Anchorage stores, so we look forward to expanding our services to this region and this new store is going to help us do just that.”

The Juneau store will employ about 25 associates and sell office supplies, office furniture, technology products, and have an in-store printing service.

The 17,000 square foot OfficeMax will be located at the south end of Nugget Mall, next to the new 11,000 square foot PETCO. Both will have separate outside entrances, with no interior mall access.

CBJ Community Development Plan Reviewer John Young says OfficeMax received its CBJ building permit Wednesday for commercial renovation and tenant improvements. PETCO has already started renovating its Nugget Mall space.

OfficeMax has about 1,000 retail stores across the U.S. and operates stores in Mexico on a joint-venture.

It also has a catalog business and contract services in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zeeland.

OfficeMax is a publically traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 200 picketed at Marine Park in Juneau today (Monday) while the cruise ship Westerdam was anchored in Gastineau Channel.

Union members say cruise lines have repeatedly broken the law by not calling a contract stevedoring company to perform dock work – such as tying up tender boats and loading cargo – when vessels are anchored offshore. Tender boats are used to ferry passengers to and from shore and to load cargo when cruise ships anchor in port rather than tie up to the docks.

Dennis Young is president of ILWU Local 200 Unit 16 in Juneau. He says the cruise lines have been using crew members from the ships – some of whom aren’t US citizens – to perform the long shore work. Young says the union is working with US Customs and Border Protection and Alaska’s Congressional delegation to end the practice.

“They can continue to stall spit and sputter, but we will be taking this as far as we have to to protect our U.S. long shore workers’ rights,” Young says.

Alaska Cruise Association President John Binkley says the cruise lines are complying with federal law by using U.S. citizens to perform the work.

“I’m certainly not an attorney, but I don’t know of any federal law that requires you to use a specific union to do work,” Binkley says.

He says the longshoremen don’t have a right to the work under their contract.

“My understanding is that through the collective bargaining process, they’ve agreed not to do the work on the tenders and the smaller vessels and that was bargained away for other wages or benefits over the years,” says Binkley. “And now I think they want to go outside the collective bargaining system to try and take over that work.”

Young says that’s simply not true.

“They’re picking and choosing how to follow the contract when they hire a stevedoring company to perform U.S. long shore work, and they’re picking and choosing how they’re going to follow immigration act law,” Young says.

The longshoremen picketed at Marine Park until the Westerdam left Juneau. They plan a similar protest in Sitka tomorrow (Tuesday) and Ketchikan at some point in the future. They were joined this afternoon by nurses at Bartlett Regional Hospital – who are also represented by the ILWU – as well as members of other unions, including state employee unions and the Inland Boatmen’s Union.

The captain of the Westerdam notified passengers of the protest by letter. Most ignored the picketers, who did not try to engage them.

It will now be September 2nd before Alaska Electric Light and Power and Juneau rate payers know the size of a pending rate increase.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska today (Friday, Aug. 26) extended its decision for the second time. Last month the commission announced it would issue its final order today, a month later than expected.

A-E-L & P requested a 22 percent permanent rate increase in May 2010. The commission granted 18 and a half percent in July 2010, with the final decision to come 12 months later.

The commission can extend its timeline with the consent of the parties – A-E-L & P, the state attorney general’s office and Juneau People’s Power Project. All agreed with both extensions.

Now it will be next Friday when the commissioners are expected to announce the amount of the permanent increase. If it’s less than the interim, the company would have to refund the difference.

Current general residential rates are 9 and a-half cents a kilowatt hour June through October and just over 11 and a- half cents/kwh November through May. If the commission grants the full 22 percent increase, general residential rates would go up slightly more than one-third of a cent per kilowatt hour. If a household uses 750 kilowatt hours a month, customers’ would pay an average of $16 more each month for electricity. The rate does not affect the standard customer charge, which is $8.88 a month.

A-E-L & P’s last permanent rate increase was in 2005 and was 4-point 41 percent.

The company says expenses have gone up significantly since then. It also hopes to recover costs of the Lake Dorothy hydroelectric project, which went online in August 2009. Utility regulations require new projects be complete and part of the operating system before a company can include an investment in its rate base.