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JUNEAU - New electric rates will be lower than previously anticipated, according to Juneau's electric utility.

Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. filed Tuesday with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska for new rates to cover the cost of running the city on diesel. Avalanches in April destroyed the transmission line that supplied cheaper hydroelectric power.

Residential rates will go down to a total of 11.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for bills sent out June 16 through July 15. That's the normal summer rate of 7.9 cents plus 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Business rates are more complicated to calculate because they include a demand component, but they will have the same 3.5-cent cost-of-power adjustment, or COPA, tacked onto each kilowatt-hour.

That's a substantial reduction from last month, where customers paid 52.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to cover the diesel. The last meters for bills at that rate will be read Saturday, June 14.

From July 16 through October 31, Juneau customers will once again shoulder paying for diesel that was burned over the winter when the lakes were low, with a 2.9-cent COPA and total residential rate of 10.8 cents per kilowatt-hour.