MEA approves slight rate hike

PALMER — The Matanuska Electric Association is raising its rates.

At a meeting Aug. 10 the utility’s board of directors passed without objection a measure raising electricity rates 1.46 percent.

The last time the utility raised its rates, in November, it was in reaction to a hike in fuel prices. Chugach Electric Association, which supplies the bulk of MEA’s power, started paying more for natural gas, and that cost passed through MEA to its customers.

The new increase is to the amount MEA charges for its services, not to the rate Chugach charges MEA. The hike that came as a result of Chugach raising its rates resulted in more than $20 in increased yearly energy costs for the average MEA consumer. The current hike, the utility calculates, will result in a $1.12 per month jump, or over $13 per year.

MEA’s average customer uses 800 kilowatt hours of power per month, the coop said in a press release.

“This 1.46 is a pretty healthy jump as these things go for just one quarter,” board member Larry DeVilbiss asked at the meeting, seeking clarification as to why the hike was being proposed.

The answer: MEA adjusts its rates nearly every quarter. Two quarters ago the utility dropped rates by 1.68 percent. The quarter after that saw a minor jump in rates. And this quarter, the utility says, it’s back to where it started before the 1.68 percent drop.

The co-op is allowed to make quarterly adjustments to its rates under rules set by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, which mandates that changes fall within a certain set of financial parameters.

Having received board approval, the RCA will have to sign off on it. If approved, the change will go into effect in the first week of October.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.