Chelan PUD Commissioners on Monday unanimously voted to lend $16 million from utility reserves to the deeply indebted fiber optic network..

 

Although the fiber utility has consistently added customers every month this year, it remains strapped for cash. The startup network is not projected to pay for itself for several decades.

 

Heather Ireland, Lead Treasury Analyst for Chelan CountyPUD admits the internal loan seems a bit tricky, but is really just moving money where it is needed.

 

The fiber system would pay the loans back over the next ten years at a market interest rate of just over 5 percent.