GVEA Rate Updates
Golden Valley Electric Association rates are reviewed and approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. Below are three recent rate adjustments.
Effective June 1, 2023
- Utility & Demand Charges
Twice a year, GVEA files a simplified rate filing (SRF), with any requested rate changes effective January 1 and June 1 of each year. The SRF process only affects the Utility Charge, and if applicable, the Demand Charge on a member’s bill. The SRF process allows GVEA to make these changes without going through a general rate case, a time-consuming and expensive process.
On June 1, the Utility and Demand Charges increased by 1.05%. The need for a rate change through the SRF is based on an evaluation of whether GVEA has sufficient revenue to cover operations and maintain financial stability.
- Quarterly Fuel and Purchased Power rate adjustment GVEA’s Fuel and Purchased Power rate is updated quarterly, effective June 1, Sept. 1, Dec. 1 and March 1.
On June 1, the Fuel and Purchased Power rate increased by $0.00783, less than one cent, from $0.12106 to $0.12889 per kWh. The average residential member who uses 600 kWh per month will see their bill go up by $4.70.
The Fuel and Purchased Power rate is a straight pass-through. GVEA’s members are only charged the actual cost to generate and purchase power, there is no mark-up. This charge is an estimate of what GVEA anticipates will be its costs over the next three months to generate and purchase the energy necessary to meet the electrical needs of its members and a true up of any over-collected or under-collected amounts from the prior quarter.
Effective July 1, 2023
- New separate line item for Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) charge
Members will see a new line-item charge on their monthly electric bill called the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) charge starting July 1, 2023.
This charge supports the state mandated Railbelt Reliability Council (RRC) which was approved as the Electric Reliability Organization by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in September of 2022.
The primary mission of the RRC is to ensure grid reliability by developing and enforcing technically sound reliability standards, reducing long-term costs through grid-wide resource planning, and designing consistent interconnection protocols for grid users.
The cost of the RRC is split amongst the Railbelt utilities as mandated by state legislation. The same legislation also provided for the ability of utilities to recoup their share of incurred costs through a surcharge on member’s bills. GVEA is electing to include this new line-item charge to provide full transparency of ERO costs going forward.
The ERO charge is $0.00101 per kWh. Like most of GVEA’s rates, the impact of the monthly ERO charge is based on a members monthly kWh usage. For more information and questions about the RRC, please visit: www.akrrc.org.