Adak Seafood filed a formal complaint against Adak Petroleum with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska yesterday, saying that the company enjoys monopoly power over the island's fuel supply and that it is refusing to sell fuel in an attempt to force Adak Seafood into signing a new lease.
Adak Petroleum is a subsidiary of Aleut Corp., which controls much of the island's land.
Adak Seafood is powered by TDX Power, and it wants to buy fuel from Adak Petroleum as a back-up for power outages.
Adak has a poor electrical system. The island's run-down power system was designed for a large military installation, and is poorly suited to a small residential community. Island residents and businesses have suffered through frequent outages in recent years. Read more about the island's complex electrical system here.
The complaint filed by Adak Seafood also accuses Adak Petroleum of being environmentally careless and using its monopoly status to gouge customers.
"Oil is power," the complaint reads, "and power corrupts; unfettered control over energy on Adak has absolutely corrupted the current management of AEC and Adak Petroleum."
The complaint asks that the Regulatory Commission compel Adak Petroleum to sell fuel to Adak Seafood.