AEL&P to offer experimental discounts to electric car users

There may not be any all-electric cars in Juneau yet, but the city's electric utility wants to be ready for them if they come.

"Juneau is an ideal location for an electric vehicle," said Gayle Wood, spokesperson for Alaska Electric Light & Power, which filed this week for a special electric vehicle power rate with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

AEL&P is proposing an experimental rate for up to six years in which off-peak power cost would be billed at a special rate, currently 5.62 cents per kilowatt-hour, and at 11.56 cents per kwh at other times. Off-peak hours are 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., according to the utilit's RCA filing.

What makes Juneau ideal for electric vehicles, Wood said, is that the cars' limited driving range would not be much of an issue with Juneau's limited road system.

"You just can't get too far away" from a charging station, she said.

Juneau currently doesn't have any charging stations, but Wood said AEL&P's proposal would also offer an incentive of $1,000 to help up to 10 experimental customers insteal electric vehicle charging stations, with separate meters.

In exchange, AEL&P would get data on vehicle use. The reimbursement would take place a year into the program, after the customer filled out their first annual survey form about electric vehicle usage.

Wood said she did not know of any all-electric vehicles in Juneau at this time.

"That's not to say that I haven't seen a few unusual looking cars in town that are probably electric," she said.

The rate would apply to either all-electric vehicles, or hybrids that can be plugged in.

Wood said even at gasoline prices as low as $2.50 a gallon, at AEL&P's off-peak rate, electric vehicles can operate at a quarter of that cost per mile.

AEL&P has adequate low-cost hydroelectric power available to meet load growth that might occur from electric vehicles, which can benefit the environment by reducing use of gasoline and diesel, she said.

It could help the utility by providing off-peak demand for power, with the experimental program providing data on which the base future such programs.

AEL&P has asked the RCA to begin the program by Jan. 10, 2011 and it will be available until Jan. 10, 2012, or until 10 customers have signed up, she said.

The offer is open only to vehciles licensed to operate on public roads, rated to 40 miles on one charge. Motorcycle-type vehicles are not eligible.

The new rate may help spur electric vehicle use, she said, which could have economic and environmental benefits.

AEL&P is planning on installing a charging station at its Lemon Creek headquarters, and others may be coming as well, such as at businesses or city parking structures.

Wood likened the move to electric vehicles to the move from the horse-and-buggy travel to the automobile.

"It was an issue then, when people wanted to know 'where's my fuel supply?' and obviously that became less of an issue over time," she said.

• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.