Power rate hike will go to board
Kootenai Electric Cooperative’s board is set for a June vote on a proposed 18 percent rate increase that would begin with the July billing cycle.
Larry Bryant, the cooperative’s marketing manager, described the rate proposal as a necessary action following a 40 percent rate hike from the Bonneville Power Administration – the federal power marketer that supplies all of the cooperative’s electricity from regional dams and power plants.
The Kootenai cooperative serves 21,000 customers in North Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Bryant said the cooperative has been able to dodge the steep rate increases of other cooperatives, industries and utilities during the past several years by entering into fixed-price contracts with Bonneville that ended this year.
Spokane
Eclectic boutique closing its doors
A downtown Spokane boutique with a mix of antiques, home décor, bath products and other merchandise, is closing.
Zoë, located at 221 N. Division, is closing after nearly three years.
Storeowner Laura Kelly-LaPointe said increases in overhead and rent made it tough to stay open.
“We had support from a lot of Spokane people, but not enough,” she said. “It has been a lot of fun but it’s time to go.”
The shop will start liquidating its merchandise in April and close within the next two months, Kelly-LaPointe said.
Seattle
GE aviation arm signs Boeing deal
GE Commercial Aviation Services said Wednesday that it had placed a firm order for 30 of Boeing Co.’s narrow-body 737 airplanes, with the option to buy 30 more.
The deal for all 60 airplanes would be worth $4 billion at list prices, although aircraft buyers typically get big discounts.
In a statement, Boeing said General Electric Co.’s aircraft leasing and financing unit will buy a mix of 737-800s and 737-900ERs. The 737-800 seats up to 189 passengers in a single-class configuration, while the 737-900ER, due to enter service early next year, will seat up to 215 people.
GE Commercial Aviation Services will take delivery of the 30 airplanes it has firm orders for between 2008 and 2010.
Charlotte, N.C.
Online banking will spur donation
Bank of America Corp. will donate a dollar to The Nature Conservancy for every customer who agrees to stop receiving a paper copy of their monthly bank statement, the bank said Wednesday.
The nation’s second-largest bank will limit the donation to $500,000, if that many customers agree to receive their banking statements online instead of a hard copy.
Three million Bank of America customers already have volunteered to pass up their monthly printed statement and get their account information online, said a spokeswoman.
She acknowledged the new initiative will save money for the bank in supplies, printing, postage and other costs.