Ketchikan residents will soon be paying more for electricity. The Ketchikan City Council approved an 8% utility rate increase for the city’s electricity services at its Thursday night meeting.
The increase is part of the city’s 2026 budget plan, which would raise electricity rates by at least 8% per year for the next five years. In a memo, city officials say if rates are not adjusted, the electric division “will be required to draw down approximately $130,000 per month from already strained reserves.”
Robert Briggs is Ketchikan’s electric utility director. He highlighted the need for the rate increase before the council made a final vote. He said underfunding the utility is restricting his ability to make it what it can be.
“I really agree that the utility is a source of pride and a great resource for the public,” Briggs said. “But not being good stewards of the utility – that’s your role.”
City Mayor Bob Sivertson, who did not vote on the utility rate increase, said “the utility has been underfunded for years” and that the city is “playing catch up.” He said even with the 8% hike, the city has one of the lowest utility rates in the state. The city last raised electric rates by 12.5% in 2025, and considered that same increase again this year. Most of Ketchikan’s electricity comes from hydropower.
Not all council members were on board with the proposed 8% increase. Councilmember Riley Gass proposed 4%, which later failed in a 4-3 vote. He said he’s concerned about how quickly the city has implemented various utility rate increases. The city recently increased water and sewer rates.
“We’re going to lose people, people are going to leave because they literally can’t afford to live here,” Gass said. “And then we’re going to have less customers and less taxpayers, and it’s just a snowball that’s not good.”
Councilmember Dick Coose said reducing the rate hike below 8% is a “serious mistake.”
Other council members were concerned that raising rates by 8% could be premature, as the city recently contracted with consulting company Raftelis to help formulate utility rate structures. Those structures could be tiered based on electricity usage, or charge different rates for commercial and industrial customers.
Councilmember Janalee Gage supported the 8% rate hike. She said inaction to ensure the city’s electrical system is working is a disservice to the community.
“We can’t afford not to have our system fixed,” Gage said. “This is not about making money, this is actually about making sure our system is running.”
After about 40 minutes of discussion, the council voted 4-3 to raise the city’s electric rates by 8%. Councilmembers Riley Gass, Jai Mahtani and Abby Bradberry voted against the rate hike.
The 8% electric rate increase goes into effect on April 1.
Among other things, the city council also approved city staff to design and construct a permanent restroom facility on Creek Street. That project would be funded by commercial passenger vessel tax funds. Project costs will be determined by the project’s design, permitting requirements and site conditions.
Editor’s note: Janalee Gage is a volunteer DJ at KRBD.
Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.
