FAIRBANKS — After having the highest utility costs in the nation in 2011, it looks like Fairbanks is paying even more this year.
Fairbanks paid 143 percent more than the typical U.S. household for its utility costs in the third quarter of 2012, according to a national survey of 304 urban areas in the country. Alaska’s second-largest city had the distinction of paying the highest utility costs last year, with prices about 112 percent above average.
Fairbanks suffers from a dependence on oil for both heating and electric generation. As oil prices have risen, local utility costs have mirrored those increases in the Interior.
The cost of heating oil hit its highest point this year, according to statistics collected by the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The price of No. 1 fuel oil has averaged $4.06 in 2012, about 13 cents more than last year. A decade ago, fuel oil prices averaged $1.21 per gallon in Fairbanks.
The Council for Community and Economic Research, which conducts the nationwide price survey, warns against making direct comparisons with previous results because the mix of participants changes with each survey.
The most-recent survey does, however, indicate that the gap between Fairbanks’ utility rates and the amount paid in other Alaska cities is growing. Juneau had the second-highest rates in the third quarter of 2012, at 69 percent above average, 5 percent higher than in 2011. The rates in Kodiak during that time went from 52 percent higher than the U.S. average to 64 percent above average.
Anchorage, which benefits from a cheap supply of Cook Inlet natural gas, had utility rates that were nearly 6 percent lower than the average U.S. urban household in the third quarter of 2012. Its utility rates were 2 percent below average in 2011.
Those growing utility prices have contributed significantly to a rising cost of living in Fairbanks. Overall costs in Fairbanks were about 40 percent above the U.S. average in the most recent survey, higher than Anchorage (26 percent above average) and Kodiak (30 percent above average).
High housing costs made Juneau the most expensive Alaska city, at 42 percent above average.
Comments (7)
Add comment"Fairbanks North Star
"Fairbanks North Star Borough. The price of No. 1 fuel oil has averaged $4.06 in 2012" Ummm, I do beleive our has consistently been higher than that...
Probably true, KP
But we also have hydro to mitigate our electric costs, so the combined cost is lower than Fairbanks. I hear they're a bit colder than us too.
But if they are going to talk
But if they are going to talk price of oil, we are paying more. Their electricity isnt that much higher either. And their cost of food , housing and basic necessities is less...
What are you complaining about?
We came in as the second most expensive. Isn't that good enough?
It would have been nice if the Empire had included a link to the survey in the article. The data's probably buried in here http://www.coli.org/ if you care to dig for it.
Just want some accuracy. The
Just want some accuracy. The article just says Fairbanks is so expensive and pay $4.06 for oil. Instead of just reposting a Fairbanks article, a Juneau reporter could have done their own article and compared it to Juneau, looking at all the costs involved and shown us how they came up with that ranking. That is what I would expect from a real newspaper worthy of my money...
Tell me again why it costs so
Tell me again why it costs so much money to repost AP, ADN and newsminer articles and put the Empire title over the top of it all?
Not to mention...
...recycling the same second-hand editorial for yet another day (third day?).
If they want to charge for content, they need to seriously step up their game. They can't start charging first and then improve their offerings. It doesn't work that way.
Oh, and it looks like Kreiss-Tomkins beat Bill Thomas in the House district 34 race (Haines, Hoonah, Sitka). A stunning defeat for Thomas. No mention of it at all in our fine rag.
Again, the Empire could make state government its niche specialty. They're the Capital newspaper with ready access to the governor's office and many commissioners. They could also nurture relationships with many state employees who could give them the skinny on inside state dealings. They could own that turf. What else do they have to distinguish themselves? Setting the record for AP articles that I can read on any free site?