Many Bethel residents are seeing higher electric bills.
When June’s bill arrived this month, customers saw about a 10 dollar cost increase for the same amount of electricity used in May. That’s because the amount Bethel receives in PCE, or Power Cost Equalization, was reduced. PCE is a state subsidy that tries to equalize rural electric costs with urban costs.
The PCE in Bethel dropped by about six cents per kilowatt hour. The decrease occurred for three reasons:
First, the cost of electricity in urban areas went up, so rural areas are getting less PCE money.
Second, Bethel’s electricity costs are now unique to Bethel. Before this month, Bethel’s costs were partially based on surrounding villages’ costs where people pay more for electricity. Smaller communities pay more per person for electricity than larger communities, because one power plant spread over 300 users costs more per person to operate than one power plant spread over 6,000 users. Since Bethel’s cost went down, the amount of it’s subsidy also declined.
The third reason Bethel's PCE went down is because some buildings in Bethel are using waste heat for energy, and Bethel’s electric provider gets revenue from that system. That provider is AVEC, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative. AVEC has asked the regulatory commission to repeal its decision and add back the PCE money it took away for the waste heat revenue. AVEC says it’s diversifying its energy sources and reducing its dependence on diesel, and customers shouldn’t be penalized for that.
The regulatory commission says it can’t comment on the matter until it’s done considering AVEC’s request.
PCE subsidies apply to residents who use less than 500 kilowatt hours per month and to city buildings.
