Alaska Electric Light and Power Company Lemon Creek operations center in Juneau. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Alaska Electric Light and Power Company Lemon Creek operations center in Juneau. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Electric rates expected to remain higher than normal due to dry weather

Some unhappy with quiet posting from electric utility

Last year’s dry summer is still affecting Juneau’s electric utility and its customers, according to a quarterly report filed last month.

Alaska Electric Light & Power (AEL&P) doesn’t have the surplus energy that it usually has, Chief Financial Officer Brandon Cullum wrote in a quarterly report to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, due to the dry conditions in the region for the past year. As a result, so-called “interruptible” customers will continue to be without power from the company, Cullum wrote.

Years ago, AEL&P entered into an agreement with Greens Creek Mine, Princess Cruise Lines and customers with multiple heating systems to have them buy energy when surplus water is available. AEL&P refers to these customers as “interruptible” because the company can disconnect them when water levels are low, according to an AEL&P press release in December.

The money that these customers pay for surplus energy is used to offset the cost of electricity for other customers, the release states. With reservoir levels lower than usual this year, AEL&P isn’t producing enough extra power to sell it to these customers.

[AEL&P sale officially dead]

This is the first time in five years that AEL&P has fully interrupted the interruptible customers. Over those five years, this arrangement has reduced the average electricity customer’s monthly bill by $29.50, according to AEL&P. With these interruptible customers now not paying for surplus energy, average electricity customers now are bearing a cost instead of getting a credit.

In December, AEL&P announced a temporary rate increase, which is about $13.62 per month for average electricity customers until June. This temporary rate change remains in effect, AEL&P Vice President and Director of Consumer Affairs Deb Driscoll said in an email Saturday. This rate change is known as a Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA), and Driscoll said customers will likely continue to pay a little extra on every bill even after the current COPA expires at the end of March.

This is all happening because of the dry summer, fall and winter that Southeast Alaska is experiencing, AEL&P officials have explained. The Snettisham Hydroelectric Project is AEL&P’s main source of power, Cullum wrote to the RCA, and Snettisham has gotten much lower rainfall totals since last year.

Snettisham normally gets about 172 inches of rainfall per water year (from October to October), Cullum wrote, but Snettisham only got about 136 inches of rainfall from October 2017 to October 2018. In the current water year to date, he wrote, Snettisham has gotten about 79 inches of rainfall compared to the usual 90 inches of rainfall that usually comes from October to the end of February.

In a follow-up email to the RCA, Cullum wrote that AEL&P’s system is working as intended.

“The system is designed so that in years with normal precipitation our interruptible customers share the cost of our system with our firm customers, reducing the cost burden to firm customers,” Cullum wrote. “In times with extended periods of below average precipitation — like the one we are in now — our system is dedicated to our firm customers.”

Others aren’t so sure about this system working well.

The sole public comment on the RCA filing is from Juneau resident Danielle Redmond, who argued that AEL&P should be finding new sources of power instead of being so dependent on Snettisham. Redmond, from local nonprofit Renewable Juneau, pointed out in her letter to the RCA that these interruptible customers are now using diesel to fuel their operations.

[Dunleavy dissolves climate change action team]

Most of all, Redmond was critical of the fact that Cullum requested that there be no public notice about this report.

“The public needs more information on this issue, not less,” Redmond wrote.

Driscoll said the request for not having public notice is normal when there are regular quarterly updates on interruptible customers (called dual fuel filings). Cullum’s report to the RCA states that only 18 interruptible customers are affected.

“We always ask for a waiver of public notice on the dual fuel filings because it only affects interruptible dual fuel customers,” Driscoll said via email. “This is consistent with dual fuel filings to the RCA over the years.”


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


More in News

The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Ships in port for the week of June 8

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2025 schedule.… Continue reading

Volunteers look for trash on the Jordan Avenue sidewalk at JAMHI’s Community Litter Pickup event on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Ellie Ruel / Juneau Empire)
JAMHI hosts community cleanup to kick off 40th anniversary celebration

Local addiction and mental health treatment organization plans summer of events and give-back days.

Then-Rep. Grier Hopkins, D-Fairbanks, speaks on the floor of the Alaska House, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. Hopkins is now the mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Officials warn of possible lawsuit in wake of Alaska governor’s education funding veto

Among issues are if veto violates Alaska’s constitutional guarantee of adequately funded public schools.

Youths compete in a choker setter race during last year’s Juneau Gold Rush Days at Savikko Park on Sunday, June 23, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
A not-entirely-precise schedule of this year’s Juneau Gold Rush Days

Timing of events for 33rd annual weekend “depends on the number of contestants and speed of competitors”

The Black Bear chairlift at Eaglecrest Ski Area will not reopen because repairs are no longer practical, officials said Thursday. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)
Eaglecrest leaders decide Black Bear chairlift is beyond repair, seek alternatives to get skiers at their peak

Possibilities include converting Ptarmigan lift to triple-chair in addition to long-awaited gondola.

Homes in downtown and west Juneau on Friday, May 13, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Short-term rental task force recommends rule adjustments, but no cap on units for property owners

Group suggests allowing multiple STRs for a single dwelling, “grandfathering” period for new rules.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
Opinion: The king of hubris

On Monday, President Donald Trump was asked if he planned to deploy… Continue reading

Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, speaks to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. At background are Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak (left) and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham (right). (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Begich joins US House Republicans in voting to claw back public broadcasting money

Clawback, formally known as a rescission, subject to approval by Senate in a simple majority vote.

Most Read