Alaska's transmission tariff would grandfather 11 existing agreements

Alaska created a regional transmission organization to end the tolls utilities charge each other to move power across their lines. Its own plan would leave 11 existing agreements in place indefinitely.

Those tolls are wheeling fees. A utility that sends electricity over another utility's wires pays for it, and that cost lands in customer bills.

The Legislature created the organization in a law signed July 31, 2024. It filed its tariff, the document setting the new rules, with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on July 1, 2025. The commission suspended it for investigation that August.

The commission's deadline to rule was June 4. It passed without a public decision.

The filing would grandfather 11 existing transmission agreements, among them those covering Bradley Lake and the Northern Intertie, with no end date.

The Alaska Energy Transparency Project, an advocacy group, argues the tariff would not lower total costs, only change who pays them.

The organization's Tariff Subcommittee meets Sept. 3, hosted by the Alaska Energy Authority. Under the organization's own bylaws, open meeting provisions do not apply to subcommittees.