Despite lower prices, Juneau still conserving power
Juneau electricity users as a whole have continued to conserve, according to numbers furnished by the utility.
Last week's energy consumption was 18 percent below the same week last year, and about the same as mid-May this year, according to Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. spokesman Scott Willis.
The 2007 numbers AEL&P used for comparison don't include interruptible customers - dual-fuel users, cruise ships and Greens Creek - since they were powered last year at this time but are not presently plugged into the city.
Conservation became a city obsession April 16, when avalanches took out the Snettisham line that supplied Juneau's cheap hydroelectric power. The line was repaired June 1.
To cover the cost of diesel, residents and businesses paid 42 cents more per kilowatt-hour than usual for one monthly billing cycle, which began and ended at different times depending on the utility's meter-reading schedule. The entire city has been on lower rates since June 16.