Chugach Electric rates change in June

Most customers will see lower bills

Chugach Electric Association members have new rates that went into effect June 1 which will lower bills for most retail customers. The new rates are the result of a recently settled rate case Chugach brought before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

Different components of the bill have changed.

Retail monthly customer charges were lowered and rounded to even numbers. For residential customers the monthly charge dropped from $8.42 to $8.

The residential energy charge decreased from 9.282 cents to 6.848 cents per kilowatt-hour for two reasons. Most of it resulted from moving the portion of the charge that went to help pay for fuel and purchased power costs to the fuel adjustment charge. The remaining portion of the decrease came from a 4.8 percent base rate reduction.

The fuel adjustment for the month of June increased from 3.112 cents to 5.202 per kwh. The increase is the exact amount taken from the energy charge, reflecting the consolidation of all fuel and purchased power costs in one charge. This will allow customers to more easily see the total amount of their bill that is associated with fuel and purchased power costs, and to more easily see the impact of changes in these costs through time.

The June bill for an average Chugach residential customer using 700 kilowatt-hours of electricity decreased from $97.26 to $94.39.

Chugach is the largest electric utility in Alaska, providing power for Alaskans throughout the Railbelt through retail, wholesale and economy energy sales.