{"id":788,"date":"2018-07-03T15:34:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T22:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/regulatory-commission-approves-aelps-request-to-lower-rates\/"},"modified":"2018-08-13T13:02:55","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T20:02:55","slug":"regulatory-commission-approves-aelps-request-to-lower-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/regulatory-commission-approves-aelps-request-to-lower-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"Regulatory Commission approves AELP’s request to lower rates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alaska<\/span> Electric<\/span> Light<\/span> and<\/span> Power<\/span> customers<\/span> will<\/span> see<\/span> their<\/span> electric<\/span> rates<\/span> drop.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> Regulatory<\/span> Commission<\/span> of<\/span> Alaska<\/span> approved<\/span> AEL&P’s<\/span> request<\/span> to<\/span> pass<\/span> income<\/span> tax<\/span> savings<\/span> through<\/span> to<\/span> its<\/span> customers.<\/span> Effective<\/span> Aug.<\/span> 1,<\/span> customers<\/span> will<\/span> see<\/span> a<\/span> 6.73<\/span> percent<\/span> decrease<\/span> in<\/span> electric<\/span> rates<\/span> as<\/span> a<\/span> result<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Tax<\/span> Cuts<\/span> and<\/span> Jobs<\/span> Act<\/span> of<\/span> 2017<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Debbie<\/span> Driscoll, vice president and director of consumer affairs for AEL&P, said in a phone interview with the Empire Tuesday, <\/span><\/span>the<\/span> amount<\/span> was<\/span> determined<\/span> by<\/span> taking<\/span> the<\/span> last<\/span> rate<\/span> increase<\/span> of<\/span> 3.86<\/span> percent<\/span> in November 2016<\/a> and<\/span> combining<\/span> it with<\/span> the<\/span> results<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Tax<\/span> Cuts<\/span> and<\/span> Jobs<\/span> Act.<\/span> The<\/span> Tax<\/span> Act<\/span> includes<\/span> provisions<\/span> lowering<\/span> the<\/span> effective<\/span> federal<\/span> corporate<\/span> income<\/span> tax<\/span> rate<\/span> from<\/span> a<\/span> maximum<\/span> of<\/span> 35<\/span> percent<\/span> to<\/span> a<\/span> flat<\/span> rate<\/span> of<\/span> 21<\/span> percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a residential<\/span> customer<\/span> using<\/span> an<\/span> average<\/span> of<\/span> 750-kilowatt<\/span> hours<\/span> of<\/span> energy<\/span> per<\/span> month,<\/span> this<\/span> is<\/span> a<\/span> decrease<\/span> of<\/span> $6.40<\/span> per<\/span> month.<\/span> Residential<\/span> customers,<\/span> at<\/span> that<\/span> same<\/span> usage<\/span>, will<\/span> also<\/span> see<\/span> a<\/span> one-time<\/span> credit<\/span> to<\/span> their<\/span> account<\/span> of<\/span> approximately<\/span> $45.<\/span> That amount may vary on individual refunds based on actual usage.<\/p>\n

On<\/span> June<\/span> 5<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> the<\/span> RCA <\/span>announced<\/span> that<\/span> it<\/span> would<\/span> be holding<\/span><\/span> a<\/span> hearing<\/span> with<\/span> AEL&P<\/span> to<\/span> discuss<\/span> savings<\/span>.<\/span> However,<\/span> before<\/span> the<\/span> hearing,<\/span> AEL&P<\/span> filed<\/span> a<\/span> formal<\/span> request<\/span><\/a> to the RCA on June 15 requesting the decrease.<\/span><\/p>\n

Driscoll<\/span> said<\/span> that<\/span> AEL&P<\/span> has<\/span> been<\/span> planning<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> decrease<\/span> to<\/span> be<\/span> approved<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> RCA and does not expect any issues with adjusting to the lower rates. However, refunds are a slighly more difficult to determine when customers will receive them. Driscoll said because people move and that billing is sent out at different times throughout the month, that the credit will arrive to customers sometime between Aug. 1-30.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>“Obviously,<\/span> there<\/span> is<\/span> quite<\/span> a<\/span> bit<\/span> of<\/span> work<\/span> on<\/span> our<\/span> end<\/span> left<\/span> to<\/span> do,”<\/span> Driscoll<\/span> said.<\/span> “We<\/span> were<\/span> hoping<\/span> it<\/span> would<\/span> get<\/span> approved.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Driscoll said AEL&P had been tracking the resulting savings from tax act, but could not make rate changes until they were approved by the RCA. Driscoll<\/span> said<\/span> AEL&P<\/span> is<\/span> pleased<\/span> to<\/span> pass<\/span> the<\/span> tax<\/span> break<\/span> onto<\/span> its<\/span> customers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“We<\/span> have<\/span> said<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> beginning<\/span> that<\/span> we<\/span> intended<\/span> to<\/span> lower<\/span> rates<\/span> and<\/span> we<\/span> are<\/span> happy<\/span> we<\/span> have<\/span> been<\/span> able<\/span> to<\/span> do<\/span> that,”<\/span> Driscoll<\/span> said.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

On<\/span> June<\/span> 4,<\/span> the<\/span> RCA,<\/span> which<\/span> regulates<\/span> public<\/span> utilities<\/span> by<\/span> certifying<\/span> qualified<\/span> providers<\/span> of<\/span> public<\/span> utility<\/span> and<\/span> pipeline<\/span> services<\/span> and<\/span> ensuring<\/span> that they<\/span> provide<\/span> safe<\/span> and<\/span> adequate<\/span> services<\/span> and<\/span> facilities<\/span> at<\/span> just<\/span> and<\/span> reasonable<\/span> rates,<\/span> terms,<\/span> and<\/span> conditions,<\/span> approved<\/span> the<\/span> sale<\/span> of<\/span> Avista<\/span> Corp.<\/span><\/a> (parent<\/span> company<\/span> of AEL&P<\/span>)<\/span> to<\/span> Canadian-owned<\/span> Hydro<\/span> One<\/span> Limited.<\/span> That<\/span> sale<\/span> is<\/span> still<\/span> pending<\/span> with<\/span> utility<\/span> commissions<\/span> in<\/span> Washington,<\/span> Idaho and <\/span>Oregon<\/span>.<\/span> Montana’s utility commission has approved the sale, Driscoll said. Hydro<\/span> One<\/span> expects<\/span> to<\/span> close<\/span> the rest of those<\/span> transactions in <\/span>the<\/span> second<\/span> half<\/span> of<\/span> this<\/span> year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2022 Contact reporter Gregory Philson at gphilson@juneauempire.com or call at 523-2265. Follow him on Twitter at @GTPhilson.<\/b><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alaska<\/span> Electric<\/span> Light<\/span> and<\/span> Power<\/span> customers<\/span> will<\/span> see<\/span> their<\/span> electric<\/span> rates<\/span> drop.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}