Golden Valley Electric plans prepaid power option, pending state approval

Golden Valley Electric Association members may soon pay for power in advance and skip the deposit. The co-op expects its voluntary Prepaid Billing Program to open to members by the end of November, pending approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

Melissa Connor, the co-op's member services manager, and Daniel Heckman, its regulatory manager, presented the program to the GVEA Board of Directors. The board meeting recap says the program would let eligible residential members pay ahead, track daily use and see how much credit remains on their account.

Enrollees would make a first payment of at least $100. They could add money at any time. Daily usage data and low-balance alerts would arrive through MyGVEA, the online account system the co-op launched in January 2023. Paper bills would stop while a member is enrolled.

Participants would pay no deposit and no reconnect fee as long as the account stays open. The terms change when the balance reaches zero. An account that runs out of credit is disconnected. Restoring service requires a $100 credit balance. Power returns automatically once that payment is made.

Not every account would qualify. Members with medical necessity accounts are excluded, as are members with net metering accounts. Tenants could join with landlord approval. Members who already owe a balance could set up an alternative payment arrangement to pay it down over time before enrolling.

The program comes four months after GVEA raised its fuel and purchased power charge about 61 percent on June 1. That increase added nearly $46 a month for the average residential member, KUAC reported.

GVEA plans to test the program with its own employees this month and train staff in November. The recap does not say when the co-op filed, or will file, the program with the commission. That approval stands between the plan and a late November launch.