Sitka's residential electric rate drops more than a third for the winter

Sitka residents' electric rate drops by more than a third starting with the first November billing cycle, from 21.93 cents to 13.71 cents per kilowatt-hour, as the city switches to its winter rate. Customers also pay a $22.60 monthly charge. The winter rate runs through April.

The city lowers the rate in winter because that's when electricity use climbs with home heating, it said in an Oct. 1 notice. In 2025, 57% of the power Sitka households used was billed at the winter rate.

Averaged over the year, that put Sitka's residential rate at 17.24 cents per kilowatt-hour, the city says, close to the national average of 17.45 cents and 32% below Alaska's average of 25.52 cents, citing federal figures for January. The average Sitka household paid about $158 a month for electricity in 2025.

Nearly all of that power comes from the city's Blue Lake and Green Lake hydroelectric dams. At the winter rate, the city's electric utility estimates that heating an average Sitka home with an air-source heat pump costs about $1,025 a year, compared with about $3,176 for an older oil furnace or boiler, according to its annual report.

The city still carries about $125 million in debt from the Blue Lake Dam expansion, which is why it subsidizes some households' electric bills. Applications for that program, which would help qualifying residents with their electric costs for a year starting in January, are due Oct. 31.