Regulators cut Manley Hot Springs power surcharge and let utility count its solar

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska on Friday approved a lower fuel surcharge for electric customers in Manley Hot Springs and waived a state rule so the town's utility can count its solar power when estimating fuel costs.

Starting Nov. 1, the surcharge drops from 80.65 cents to 64.16 cents per kilowatt-hour. For a typical household using 261 kilowatt-hours a month, that's about $43 less a month, according to the commission's letter order.

The surcharge passes the utility's fuel costs on to customers. Even after the cut, it is more than double the 29.61 cents in effect before TDX Manley Generating asked regulators in August to nearly triple it.

A solar array with battery storage was commissioned in Manley in December 2023, according to the Tanana Chiefs Conference. But until this filing, the utility's method treated all of its power as coming from diesel and so overestimated its fuel costs, commission staff found. An earlier commission order told the utility to separate its solar and diesel generation and refile using actual July and August numbers.

The state's Power Cost Equalization program, which pays part of the bill for residential customers and community facilities in rural Alaska, still credits eligible customers 74.24 cents per kilowatt-hour, the maximum set under state law.

The utility updates the surcharge every three months.