Committee recommends City Light fiber-sharing agreement with Ziply Fiber to improve Skagit communications

The Sustainability, City Light and Arts & Culture Committee recommended approval on June 6 of an ordinance authorizing Seattle City Light to enter a long-term indefeasible-rights-of-use (IRU) fiber-sharing agreement with Ziply Fiber to create a redundant communications path between the Skagit hydroelectric project and City Light’s Bothell substation. The committee’s recommendation will be transmitted to the full City Council for consideration on June 17; the committee vote was 3 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

Seattle City Light presented the ordinance as a cost-effective way to add redundancy and resilience to critical communications that support operations at Skagit, a generation asset the utility said serves roughly 20% of the electroload in its service territory. Dawn Lindell, general manager and chief executive officer for Seattle City Light, said the agreement would allow…