More Mat-Su families are paying at the door to keep their power on, as their co-op runs ahead of budget

More Matanuska Electric Association members are paying at the last second to stop their power from being cut off. In the first seven months of 2026, members handed over about $472,000 right as their electricity was being disconnected — already 83 percent of what the co-op collected that way in all of 2025, with five months still to go.

Those doorstep payments are up about 20 percent over the same stretch last year, with spikes of 45 percent in April and 50 percent in June. Balances owed to the co-op for 90 days or more rose every month this year, more than doubling from January to July; early in the year they ran below the prior year's, and by summer they had climbed well above it. Shorter-term lateness showed no such trend — members are falling further behind, not just paying late.

The usual causes don't fit. The co-op barely grew, adding fewer than 500 accounts all year. And MEA's summer rate increase — which added roughly $15 to a typical monthly bill — took effect only after the long-overdue balances had already climbed for five straight months. Rates had actually dropped slightly at the start of the year.

The co-op itself is doing well. Through June, MEA reported net margins running $4.9 million ahead of budget, helped by higher-than-expected sales and lower operating costs, with its equity cushion a bit above target.

MEA's report publishes the dollars collected at disconnection every month but never says how many households were cut off, so the number of families reaching that point is unknown. The co-op's own guidance frames disconnection as avoidable: no disconnection fees, the option to pay and restore service, and referrals to payment plans or outside help for those who can't pay in full. Applications for the state's heating assistance program are open for the coming season, with income limits that scale by household size.