MEA votes to raise rates

PALMER - Power bills in the Valley should be going up in a couple of months.

According to a Matanuska Electric Association press release dated Friday, the 2.55 percent rate hike was approved at a board of directors meeting Monday.

This move follows a vote by the MEA board in November 2011 to decrease base rates by 1 percent, effective the first quarter of 2012.

The average MEA user, defined as one that consumes 700 kilowatt hours of electricity each month, should expect to see a $1.81 increase.

The hike should go into effect the first week of April and was approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

MEA is allowed under Alaska law to ask the commission for periodic limited increases.