JUNEAU — Alaska regulators have approved a Juneau utility’s request to raise consumer bills by 22 percent.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska last year granted Alaska Electric Light and Power Compnay an interim increase of 18.5 percent while it considered whether to grant the utility’s request for the permanent increase of 22 percent. It granted the request after several delays late Friday.
AEL&P’s Scott Willis says residential consumers can expect to pay an additional $2-3 on their next bill. In all, he said, since the interim increase was approved, residential bills will have risen an average of about $16 a month.
The utility, which has about 16,000 customers in Juneau, has said the increase is needed cover inflation and added costs, including those associated with completing a hydro project.
The last rate increase came in 2005.
Comments (17)
Add commentSo what happened to all the
So what happened to all the questions the investigators found? Wasn't there something about it paying for mistakes at Dorothy? Paying for television ad campaigns? I seem to remember that there were a lot of questionable things in that package that the RCA investigators dug up and said were not appropriate, therefore they only gave them the temp 20% increase.
This will cost everyone more. Do you get that? If it costs the city $2 million more a year, what is going to happen to your property tax? Are they going to be improving the schools? Hiring more teachers? The state offfices will cost more too. Every store in Juneau will see a major cost increase. Guess what they will do to be able to stay in business? Pass it on to you! We, the little people, will get to shoulder the entire cost of this. YAY!
Part of the reason that other forms of renewable resources don't work in Juneau is not that we don't have enough wind. We have plenty. In the rest of the known world, the utility company will buy back your excess power that is generated as it helps them and helps you. You will have times that you will have more power than you can use and there will be times you dont have enough. It evens out to a great deal for everyone. AEL&P refuses to buy from anyone. They make it so you have to have battery storage for all the excess and enough to power you through the times when you arent producing enough.
I was told when this started that the RCA has never denied an increase and that they were just a rubber stamp. I sincerely hoped they werent and was enouraged by them capping the temporary increase and doing the investigation. Sadly, when it was done, they rubber stamped. I will be spending the extra money to convert to LED for my household, possibly putting in a propane generator and buying as much as I can from outside Juneau. I may not be able to keep from having increased spending, but I can control who I give my money too.
In agreement
I have to totally agree with KPAWSUH's second paragraph. This increase is bigger than we think, and when the reality of that hits ... watch out.
In agreement
I have to totally agree with KPAWSUH's second paragraph. This increase is bigger than we think, and when the reality of that hits ... watch out.
stupid
THANK YOU SO MUCH, RCA, FOR MAKING IT SO MUCH MORE HARDER TO SURVIVE IN ALASKA!!!!
More to come
The current economic conditions will result in AEL&P's investments to not perform up to their expectations. So the result will be for them to go to the RCA again and ask for another rate increase. And they will get it. They will at least wait until the shock of this increase wears off of the people. The RCA's delays for this increase had nothing to do with "investigating the reason" for the request, but had everything to do with calming the public outcry and to give the public the impression that they are on their ( the peoples) side. The rate increase was guaranteed to pass, as will the next one
In agreement -- the pay is the same
Kpawsuh is right on with the regional economics.
AL&P is a "regulated" monopoly where the government acts to buffer consumers from monopolistic pricing -- that is whatever AL&P deem possible from each customer. A perfectly discriminating monopolist in theory charges a unique price for each consumer.
Too understand what is a "fair price", one has to carefully study and understand the company's capital investments, operational costs, and agree on what is a fair return on capital and risk. Not an easy task and very time consuming.
So, it is rare that a regulatory commission has the data, knowledge and/or inclination to thwart a company like AL&P, unless the rate error is truly egregious . Consequently the rubber stamp -- not a kind but fair characterization.
The bad news is that we pay directly for our own consumption and indirectly as other entities pass on their higher energy costs to us as customers/taxpayers. The worse news is that even if we turn down the heat in grandma's room and otherwise conserve, AL&P can always request another rate increase to make-up for the falling demand and a "smaller client base".
If in fact, there were unfair costs in the AL&P rate increase, i.e., Lake Dorothy, then we all pay through a lower standard of living. That is why regulatory commissions are so important and why they need good hard working people on staff. Anything short of this is: "I'm here from the Government and I'm here to help and the pay is the same."
RCA = AEL&P's Dog
It may bark, but in the end will do anything AEL&P wants it to do.
The Attorney General was suppose to take care of our interest
Let's see if they are up to the task. They have the right to ask for reconsideration and if that doesn't work to appeal the decision. If they don't, you know that AEL&P was right all along.
CRAP
What unbelievable bull crap, as always with aelp we the consumers get the screws put to us, will it ever stop ?
IMO
Don't change your usage because it won't help. If we cut what we use AEL&P will get less, then they will go and raise the rates saying they need more money again.
It's just not worth the effort to change how we live better off simply changing other things we spend money on like groceries and doctors.
I don't know why everyone is so upset you knew they were going to win, look at our gas and everything else. Why waste any energy getting angry it's completely pointless.
Only way to pay less is to move, depending on where you go. But the problem with that is living here sucks people so dry no one (I know at least) can save enough money to move.
I feel completely defeated and let down like most the rest of you but it's time to move on and figure out how not to go homeless, cold or hungry because of the chain reaction this will have on everything.
Does RCA ever say "no"
It seems that every three months or so Alaska Power & Telephone gets a rate hike. And hydro was supposed to be cheaper?
In Barrow, where they use natural gas off their fields to
generate electricity the rate is 10 cents. In Skagway it's 25 cents. AP&T's excuse is that it's more expensive to do business in Alaska.
And now AP&T wants to put in another hydro project in West Creek, saying it will "help" cover cruise ships' electrical usage.
When Goat Lake, the first hydro project, went in in 1998 the company said the rates wouldn't go up but they've never stopped going up.
read and form your own opinion
Perhaps rather than criticizing the RCA for "rubber stamping" or not looking out for the "people", you might consider reading through the documents.Take a look and see how much consideration, scrutiny, effort and time went into the rate case, not just by the RCA, but by the AG's office and AEL&P and JPPP.
I'm betting that every person involved did his or her job to the best of his or her ability and would be offended to hear the accusations of corruption, rubber stamping, theft, etc -- especially when the majority of name callers most likley have not read through all the supporting documentation publicly available.
It's one thing to have an educated debate about the challenges of increasing living costs in Alaska, hydro vs alternative energy sources, ways to conserve, suggestions for how the process could be improved -- but it's poor practice to cast accusations and point fingers, especially without a willingness to do the work necessary to gather accurate information.
Read the documents, then share your opinion. It will carry more weight.
http://rca.alaska.gov/RCAWeb/Filings/EDocList.aspx?id=d159aaea-1cde-45f3...
That would be why Billb of
That would be why Billb of JPPP was on here Sunday saying it was a bunch of crap...
Just accept the fact!
If one wants to live isolated in the wilderness with all the conveniences of modern life--you will pay for that privilege.
akwrangler is right on
Akwrangler hit the nail on the head. Reasonable dissent and debate is a productive thing. This level of group-conspiracy thinking is corrosive and small-minded.
By the way, the figures on the CBJ power bills are totally wrong, and is another good example of bad information put to bad use. The CBJ power bill will increase TO $2,000,000 (from around $1,500,000), not BY $2,000,000. Before anyone repeats that myth again, take a few minutes to call the CBJ Treasurers office and fact check it. Just because Joe Blow on the blog said it (J3P is quoted in the press) doesn't make it true.
Also, when you are talking about wind power and selling power back to the grid, there is one little trick to power generation that is being overlooked. Storing power that has been generated is not practical. We don't have big batteries that the wind can charge up. Same issue applies when the lakes reach their capacity...if we can't use the power that the excess water could generate (for example, by selling it to Greens Creek on an excess interruptible basis), then it is lost forever. The Taku winds might generate a lot of force a few days per year, but the demand for power is relatively constant, while the supply of wind is not. Wind will not work as a reliable generation source on an islotated grid, period.
Educate yourself.
akwrangler?
Quick question for you as you seem to know your stuff. Exactly how many rate increases has the RCA denied and in what years did these denials take place?
Long term, why then do so
Long term, why then do so many remote cabins around here rely on wind turbines? And Kodiak, Kotzebue etc all seem to be fine with wind turbines. Maybe you should actually do some research before you speak. Is wind power a panacea? No, but it does work.
Just AJ doing the best job it
Just AJ doing the best job it can sticking to Juneau residents again. The more it costs the more they make. A monopoly never ever belongs in the hands of private enterprise. Private enterprise only works for the customer when there is competition. AJ has an employee who’s job is figuring out to maximize AJ charges to you and have to pay for him.
The only way Juneau residents will obtain rational rates is when the Juneau residents form their own power utility. It is not hard to do.
Before Murkowski there was a staff on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska who’s job it was, was to protect the rate payer and now job that rests with the AG office so go bang on the Governors door.
Where is your Juneau legislative delegation??? How much does AJ contribute to them directly and indirectly? Why don’t you know?