Regulators set Elfin Cove power credit at 51.67 cents per kilowatt-hour

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska on Thursday set the Power Cost Equalization amount for Elfin Cove Electric Utility at 51.67 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential and community facility customers, a letter order shows. The new amount applies to bills rendered on or after Friday.

Power Cost Equalization is the state credit applied to eligible bills in rural communities. It covers residential use up to 750 kilowatt-hours a month and power sold to local community facilities, under state law.

Fuel cost is one input in the credit formula. The Elfin Cove utility buys its fuel from the Community of Elfin Cove, which gets it from the wholesaler Delta Western, according to the commission staff memo. Staff calculate the credit using whichever is lower: the community's fuel invoice or Delta Western's invoice plus an approved markup.

This time staff did not use the price the community charged. They calculated a fuel cost of $6.6987 a gallon from Delta Western's invoice plus the allowed delivery markup.

The order also records a problem the utility has not yet fixed. Elfin Cove Electric Utility reports a negative line loss of 5.15 percent. Line loss is the share of generated power that does not reach a paying customer, so a negative figure means the records show more power reaching customers than the plant produced. The utility attributes the figure to meter reading errors and is working with the Alaska Energy Authority to resolve it.

Five commission members or their representatives concurred with the staff memo. The utility owes the state a $39 fee for the staff analysis, due Dec. 12.

The same day, the commission set the amount for the City of Golovin at 45.15 cents per kilowatt-hour, also for bills rendered on or after Friday.