For those curious about the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s (RCA) process and role in the possible purchase of Juneau’s electric utility, City Hall is the place to be Wednesday evening.
At 5:30 p.m., the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly Finance Committee will meet with two experts to get a look into the complex processes of making rates and regulating energy usage in Alaska. Grace Salazar of the RCA’s Consumer Protection & Information Office will give a presentation to the committee. Kirk Gibson, a partner at McDowell Rackner Gibson PC, will also give a presentation from a legal perspective.
The Finance Committee members requested this meeting in order to learn more about the possible purchase of Alaska Electric Light & Power’s parent company, Avista. The meeting is open to the public.
Hydro One, which is partially owned by the Canadian government, is working to purchase Avista. Avista owns electric utilities in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho as well. The sale was announced in July and is expected to be finalized sometime in 2018.
Some have expressed concern about the possibility of rising rates as a result of Hydro One’s purchase of Avista. Connie Hulbert, the president and general manager of AEL&P, told the Finance Committee in November that the RCA controls that, not the company.
During that meeting, Hulbert said she hasn’t spoken with higher-ups at Hydro One about the company’s plans for the future, but that she is confident in the RCA to continue to do its job correctly.
“I can’t speak for RCA, but we have faith in RCA,” Hulbert said. “They’re not going to allow any outside cost to affect rates for Juneau’s customers.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
