{"id":117,"date":"2026-05-20T22:37:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=117"},"modified":"2026-05-20T22:37:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:37:27","slug":"juneau-residents-say-aelps-proposal-to-raise-bills-by-20-is-not-affordable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=117","title":{"rendered":"Juneau residents say AEL&P\u2019s proposal to raise bills by 20% is not affordable"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

After Alaska Electric Light & Power filed a rate increase case with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska last week, some Juneau residents say a 20% bill increase is too high.<\/p>\n

Read more Alaska Legislature passes sweeping crime bill raising age of consent to 18 on last day of session<\/a><\/p>\n

Lynda Giguere is one of a few residents who submitted a public comment on the case. She said the additional cost would hurt her wallet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, 20% is significant \u2014 when your utility rates go up that high,\u201d Giguere said.<\/p>\n

She called it the \u201cicing on the cake\u201d of recent cost-of-living spikes, including on groceries and gas.<\/p>\n

Giguere and her husband have lived in their 1,600-square-foot home on Douglas Island since the 1980s. A few years ago, they made the switch from pricey oil to more affordable hydropower by installing an electric heat pump and radiant heating.<\/p>\n

Her most expensive electric bill within the past year was a little over $480 for the home\u2019s two units in January. With a 20% increase, a similar month next winter could cost her about $576.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoly moly, I\u2019m knitting a sweater,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Giguere is retired, and although she and her husband have social security and pensions, she said the price hike could limit their ability to visit family in the Lower 48.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not where I would like an extra thousand-plus dollars to go a year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Last year, AEL&P made about $47 million in revenue, according to its parent company, Avista Corporation.<\/p>\n

Juneau\u2019s sole electric utility last raised rates in 2023 by 6%. That increase was based on costs in 2021. Between then and 2025, prices on many products AEL&P needs to operate have soared.<\/p>\n

Alec Mesdag, AEL&P\u2019s CEO, said copper pipe went up nearly 140%, while a single distribution pole and transformer increased 105%, according to company purchases. Mesdag said the rising cost of equipment and capital improvements created an annual $10 million hole.<\/p>\n

To fill it, the power company filed to raise its base electric rate by an overall 25%, which Mesdag said would pencil out to a residential bill increase of about 20%.<\/p>\n

Accounting for Greens Creek Mine<\/b><\/h3>\n

The 5% discrepancy is because a surcharge associated with Hecla Greens Creek Mine that\u2019s been appearing on electric bills will now be accounted for in the base rate instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks bigger than it is because we\u2019re making that adjustment,\u201d Mesdag said.<\/p>\n

Mesdag said AEL&P used to assume the mine would pay $8.7 million per year for hydropower. In the past, the power company built that assumption into how they determined electric rates for other customers. AEL&P subtracted that assumed revenue from the cost it needed to recover from customers overall, then calculated electric rates for everyone else.<\/p>\n

Read more Alaska\u2019s oldest original lighthouse will soon open to the public for the first time<\/a><\/p>\n

When the mine used more power than AEL&P accounted for, residents would see a small reduction on their electric bill under the \u201ccost of power adjustment\u201d line. When the mine used less power, residents would see a surcharge instead. For years, Mesdag said the mine hasn\u2019t been using as much electricity as AEL&P expected.<\/p>\n

Last year, Greens Creek spent $2.65 million less than the power company had accounted for. According to Hecla, the mine got 62% of its electricity from AEL&P last year.<\/p>\n

Mesdag said the mine has both improved its energy efficiency and had more service interruptions. Sometimes surplus power isn\u2019t available due to drought or construction, and sometimes trees hit the transmission line out to Admiralty Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor operational reasons, Greens Creek takes a few more outages than it used to,\u201d Mesdag said.<\/p>\n

Now, AEL&P plans to assume the mine will use less energy, so the surcharge will be moved into the price per kilowatt-hour, or base rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a cost that we\u2019re already paying on our bills, and it moves it into base rates,\u201d Mesdag said.<\/p>\n

Proposed rates<\/b><\/h3>\n

If the commission approves AEL&P\u2019s request, residential base rates would rise by 26.7%. Large commercial customers would see a 23.5% increase and small commercial customers would see a 22.8% increase.<\/p>\n

Mesdag said that\u2019s because commercial customers are currently bearing a larger proportion of the cost for AEL&P to provide power.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our cost of service study, it appears that commercial customers \u2014 large commercial and small commercial customers \u2014 are subsidizing residential customers,\u201d Mesdag said.<\/p>\n

He said Juneau residents would still pay a lower electric rate than the national average, but he understands it\u2019s a substantial increase.<\/p>\n

Mesdag said the company is willing to offer guidance to improve home energy efficiency and work with people who fall behind on their payments.<\/p>\n

The power company plans to raise rates in two phases. The first rate hike of 12.5% takes effect in June.<\/p>\n

The official public comment period closes at 5 p.m. on May 28, but the commission will accept comments submitted after that. The rate case is expected to conclude around August 2027.<\/p>\n

Read more A rare Ebola strain is spreading with no vaccine. Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alaska Electric Light & Power filed a rate increase case with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska last week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nJuneau residents say AEL&P\u2019s proposal to raise bills by 20% is not affordable - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Juneau residents say AEL&P\u2019s proposal to raise bills by 20% is not affordable - Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alaska Electric Light & Power filed a rate increase case with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska last week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T22:37:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=117#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=117\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e09896005b88414084eb4bd3215ab0a\"},\"headline\":\"Juneau residents say AEL&P\u2019s proposal to raise bills by 20% is not affordable\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T22:37:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=117\"},\"wordCount\":868,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=117#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ccc51e2ec4e7833b6048692eadcb60c1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=117#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=117\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=117\",\"name\":\"Juneau residents say AEL&P\u2019s proposal to raise bills by 20% is not affordable - 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