Chugach Electric seeks to increase bills by 3.1% to cover declining sales and increased costs
Chugach Electric Association is asking state regulators for a 3.1% increase to total rates, as costs rise and sales fell after last year’s warm winter reduced demand for heat, the utility said Wednesday.
The increase, if approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, would apply to the cooperative’s 90,000 retail customers in the service area that includes Anchorage and nearby areas, according to the request filed with the agency.
The increase would come atop February’s increase of 4.3% to total rates, the statement said.
“We never really got to see the benefits of that because of the loss in sales,” said Julie Hasquet, a spokesperson with the electric cooperative.
Sales down, costs up
“Chugach continues to see significant increases in costs and declines in sales,” the filing says.
Sales are down 3.2% through June 2025 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the filing.
Last winter’s “abnormally warm weather” caused the decline in sales, David Caye, regulatory affairs manager for Chugach Electric, said in testimony to the commission.
Inflation has also caused costs to increase, including for materials such as wire, transformers and many other supplies, Hasquet said.
The multiday windstorm in January that pounded Southcentral Alaska also cost the utility $1 million in personnel expenses and equipment, she said.
“We had all sorts of snapped poles and wires down and damaged transformers,” she said. “So knowing that storms are coming every fall and winter, we have to be ready.”
The higher costs and declining sales have produced a revenue deficiency of approximately $11.2 million, the filing says.
The “compounding negative pressures” have caused operating margins to fall by more than 40%, threatening the utility’s ability to meet financial requirements, the utility’s statement said.
[Anchorage electricity prices could go up again. Blame the warm winter.]
Bills proposed to go up
Chugach Electric filed its request, known as a general rate case, on Monday.
The rate of the proposed permanent increase would be higher for customers with smaller bills than those with larger bills, according to a rate calculator on Chugach Electric’s website.
For a residential customer in the South District, a bill of $140.46 would rise by $4.78, or 3.4%. (That’s based on 525 kilowatt hours of use, according to the calculator.) The South District generally consists of the legacy customers of Chugach Electric before its 2020 acquisition of Anchorage Municipal Light and Power.
For a residential customer in the North District, a bill of $116.51 would rise by $4.78, or 4.1%. (That’s based on 525 kilowatt hours of use, according to the calculator.)
“To manage Chugach’s operations and fulfill its mission of providing safe, reliable, and affordable electric service to its members, Chugach must ensure its revenue is sufficient to cover expenses and meet operational needs,” its filing says.
Chugach’s rate case filing opened a two-week comment period ending on Sep. 3, according to a public notice from the commission.
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