Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) is the state body that regulates public utilities in Alaska. It sets consumer rates and grants certificates of public convenience for electric, gas, water, sewer and telecommunications utilities. It reviews rate filings from co-ops and pipeline carriers.
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Elfin Cove's state power credit set at 51.67 cents per kilowatt-hour
Homes and community buildings in Elfin Cove will get a state credit of 51.67 cents for each eligible kilowatt-hour of electricity, starting with bills sent Friday, after state regulators reset the amount Thursday.
The credit comes from Power Cost Equalization, the state program that lowers electric bills in rural communities where power is expensive. It covers up to 750 kilowatt-hours a month for each home, plus power used by local community facilities, under state law.
Fuel cost is part of the formula. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska figured the utility's fuel at about $6.70 a gallon, according to its order.
The utility buys its fuel from the Community of Elfin Cove, which gets it from the wholesaler Delta Western. The commission's staff count whichever price is lower: what the community charges, or Delta Western's price plus an approved delivery markup. This time, they used Delta Western's.
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Stories on what’s next
Power Cost Equalization Rate Effective for Golovin
Regulators raise Golovin's power credit 17 cents a kilowatt-hour as fuel costs climb
Regulators raised Golovin's state power credit from 28 to 45 cents a kilowatt-hour after fuel costs climbed. Households now pay about 22 cents on covered power.

Regulatory Commission of Alaska Public Comment Period: Golden Valley Electric Association Prepaid Power Program
Golden Valley asks regulators to waive 15-day shutoff notice for prepaid power
Golden Valley wants to cut off prepaid customers once their balance runs out, with a morning email or call, instead of the usual 15 days' notice.

Appeal deadline for Badami pipeline transfer order
State regulators approve APA's takeover of Badami pipelines on the eastern North Slope
State regulators OK'd APA's takeover of the Badami pipelines, part of a $70 million North Slope buy APA expects to support its drilling starting this winter.

Golden Valley Electric Association Prepaid Billing Program Launch
Golden Valley Electric plans prepaid power option for members, pending state approval
Golden Valley Electric members may soon prepay for power and skip the deposit. Run out of credit, though, and the lights go off until you add $100.

Regulatory Commission of Alaska Public Comment Period on Goat Lake Hydro Cable Fund
Haines and Skagway power bills could rise about $180 a month to pay for an undersea cable
Haines and Skagway households could pay about $180 more a month for power under a proposed fund for their undersea cable, the state's consumer advocate says.

Latest
November 2026
Nome power bills face a bigger fuel surcharge as utility board presses for overdue audits
Nome's power bill fuel surcharge is likely to roughly double after the utility's biggest fuel bond yet. Its board, meanwhile, still wants a budget and audits.

MEA board lets ENSTAR negotiate its gas supply for after Hilcorp contract ends in 2029
MEA's board will let ENSTAR find and negotiate the gas MEA needs after its Hilcorp deal ends in 2029. No word yet on what ENSTAR gets paid or who's selling.

Golden Valley Electric moves to settle rate case as high power costs strain its cash
Golden Valley Electric is negotiating to settle its rate case, which decides how much base rates go up. The co-op says high power costs strain its cash.

Regulators approve Chugach fuel charges that shift typical bills by less than $1
Regulators OK'd Chugach Electric's quarterly fuel charges. Typical bills move less than a buck: up 73 cents in the North district, down 84 cents in the South.

Fastwyre asks the state to let it end cable TV in Galena and Unalaska after 41 years
Fastwyre wants to unplug cable TV in Galena and Unalaska on New Year's Eve, saying new gear isn't worth it for 70 accounts. Customers get to keep the box.

Regulators refuse more time in ENSTAR's gas rate case, with a decision due Jan. 28
ENSTAR customers have paid higher interim rates since July 2025. Regulators just refused five more days for closing arguments. A decision is due Jan. 28.

October 2026
Regulators approve ENSTAR plan to borrow MEA's gas to shore up winter storage
Regulators OK'd ENSTAR borrowing MEA's gas from Hilcorp this winter to top off storage. MEA gets it back by 2028, and gas customers cover the cost.

Regulators cut Manley Hot Springs power surcharge and let utility count its solar
Manley Hot Springs' power surcharge drops about $43 a month for a typical home, and regulators are letting the utility count the solar power it already makes.

Anchorage overlay developers would pay full cost of water and sewer extensions, AWWU says
Anchorage's water utility says Missing Middle builders would pay for new water and sewer lines themselves, and the price can change across a street.

Regulators let Alaska Power Company waive reconnection charges after natural disasters
Regulators approved letting Alaska Power Company waive reconnection fees and months of back charges for customers whose power a natural disaster knocked out.

Regulators won't decide Hilcorp's gas storage rates for Southcentral until late 2027
Hilcorp's own study found its gas storage rates bringing in 25% more than costs plus allowed profit. Regulators cut them for now and will decide by late 2027.

ENSTAR asks regulators to fast-track a deal to borrow MEA's gas for this winter
ENSTAR wants to borrow 1.2 billion cubic feet of MEA's gas for this winter and return it by 2028. Customers would pay the costs, minus a credit on return.

Rose, Holdmann say Southcentral gas imports look unavoidable and urge state policy
The founders of REAP and UAF's energy center say Southcentral probably can't avoid importing gas, and want a new governor to "knock heads" among utilities.

Regulators approve Golden Valley's plan for rolling outages in the Interior
State regulators approved Golden Valley's rolling-outage plan, so if the Interior runs short of power, zones take turns in the dark for up to an hour.

AVEC says it must raise revenue 10% as delivered fuel costs climb 35% to 40%
AVEC says it needs 10% more revenue after diesel for its 58 villages arrived 35% to 40% pricier. In fly-in villages, fuel alone tops $1 a kilowatt-hour.

Golden Valley lifts first energy emergency alert, warns supply problems will continue
Golden Valley's first-ever energy emergency is over. A unit outage Monday left the co-op with one generator of backup; by Wednesday it was back to normal.

Coming up
Public Comment Deadline: Regulatory Commission of Alaska: Notice of Utility Tariff Filing (ENSTAR)
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Public Comment Deadline: Regulatory Commission of Alaska: Notice of Utility Tariff Filing (GVEA)
Public notice
Regulatory Commission of Alaska Public Comment Period: Golden Valley Electric Association Prepaid Power Program
Public notice
Appeal deadline for Badami pipeline transfer order
Public notice
About Regulatory Commission of Alaska
Photo by Bernt Rostad, via Flickr · Photo source · CC BY 2.0
rca.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) is the state body that regulates public utilities and intrastate pipeline carriers in Alaska. It sets consumer rates and grants certificates of public convenience and necessity for electric, gas, water, sewer and telecommunications utilities.
The commission reviews rate cases, tariff filings and surcharges from electric cooperatives such as Golden Valley Electric, Homer Electric and Matanuska Electric, gas utilities such as ENSTAR, and water and sewer providers such as AWWU. Recurring questions concern cost of power surcharges at small rural utilities, community solar rules, how gas storage costs reach ratepayers, and rates and capacity on North Slope oil and gas pipelines.
Its decisions shape what households pay for power, heat and water, from Anchorage and Fairbanks to small communities such as Manley Hot Springs and Healy Lake. Southcentral natural gas supply and a proposed gas pipeline also bring its work before lawmakers.
More from Regulatory Commission of Alaska
Two regulators object as RCA lets Fairbanks, Juneau power cost cuts stand
Regulators let lower power cost charges in Fairbanks and Juneau stand. Two commissioners objected, saying they belong in the utilities' pending rate cases.

Railbelt-wide unified dispatch likely needs legislation, REAP analyst says
Running the Railbelt's power plants as one system would save money, a REAP analyst says, but it probably takes a policy push to make it happen.

Healy Lake fuel surcharge more than triples; 750 kWh bill rises $7
Healy Lake's fuel surcharge more than tripled. A bigger state credit covers most of it for households: a 750-kilowatt-hour monthly bill rises about $7.

Regulators cut Hilcorp's Kenai gas storage rates up to 31% while they investigate
Regulators cut Hilcorp's Kenai gas storage fees up to 31% after its own study showed it was overcollecting. Whether your utility bill notices is another matter.

Potter Creek Water Company seeks to raise its flat residential rate to as much as $122.91 a month
Potter Creek water customers could see their flat monthly bill go from $106.02 to as much as $122.91. State regulators are taking comments until Oct. 16.

September 2026
Regulators cut Chugach's Beluga River gas price after Chugach asked for an increase
Chugach asked regulators to nudge its Beluga River gas price up a penny. After staff found errors, regulators cut it by 39 cents instead, starting Thursday.

Regulators fix math errors in AVEC power subsidy, raising credits in most villages
State regulators found math errors in AVEC's rural power credits. The fix raises the credit in 44 of 46 village power systems and lowers it in two.

Homer Electric design fee for new hookups doubles to $1,000 Tuesday
Want power at your new place on the Kenai? Homer Electric's design fee doubles to $1,000 Tuesday, and three-phase hookups lose $3,000 in help.

Alaska Power Company asks to waive charges for customers cut off by disasters
Alaska Power Company wants to stop charging people to reconnect after a disaster. Its customers pay about twice what Anchorage pays for power.

Chugach will charge you less at night, if you actually move your usage
Chugach will sell you cheaper power overnight and pricier power all day long. Sign up and change nothing, and you end up paying a little more.

Alpine pipeline seeks nearly double metering capacity for Willow-era output
A North Slope pipeline wants to nearly double how much oil it can meter as Willow nears production. The filing changes measurement capacity, not Willow's approval.

ENSTAR wants to raise most gas hookup charges in Southcentral Alaska in 2027
ENSTAR wants to raise most natural gas hookup charges in Southcentral Alaska in 2027, with the basic service-line fee up about $46 and higher meter costs.

A power surcharge in Manley Hot Springs would nearly triple
The fuel surcharge on Manley Hot Springs electric bills would nearly triple under a new filing, while state rural power assistance stays where it is.

Some Anchorage homes went a month without running water last winter
Some Anchorage homes went a month without running water last winter. Frozen lines hit triple the usual number, and thawing them is the customer's expense.

August 2026
Alaska's transmission tariff would grandfather 11 existing agreements
Alaska created a body to end the tolls utilities charge each other for moving power. Its plan would leave 11 existing agreements in place indefinitely.

Chugach wants another cent for the gas it sells to itself
Chugach wants to raise the price it charges itself for its own gas to $8.14. It was $2.73 in early 2021, and surcharges are driving the climb.

Manley Hot Springs surcharge would nearly triple under a filing before regulators
Manley Hot Springs electric customers face a cost-of-power surcharge nearly three times higher on Sept. 1. The state credit that offsets it does not move.

Alaska's main power grid is getting its first mandatory cybersecurity rules, but not for years
Alaska's main power grid is finally getting mandatory cybersecurity rules, but none takes effect until 2027 at the earliest, phasing in slowly through 2029.

Homer Electric members will be able to buy into shared solar starting in February
Homer Electric members can buy into shared solar or wind starting around mid-February. Subscribers will pay a monthly fee nobody has put a number on yet.

Golden Valley Electric has rules for community solar and no community solar
Golden Valley Electric now has approved rules for community solar and no community solar. Someone outside the utility has to build it first.

ENSTAR seeks a Southcentral gas rate hike as two landlords move to dismiss the case
ENSTAR wants to raise Southcentral gas bills by about $9 a month, and two landlords are moving to get the rate case thrown out before its September hearing.

Alaska regulators may open the grid to far more home and community solar
Alaska regulators may raise the rooftop and community solar limit from 1.5% to 20% of a utility's demand, opening the grid to far more customer-owned power.

Senate majority to regulators: reconsider the rejected gas storage project, and make BlueCrest produce
Senate majority members want a rejected gas storage project revisited and an idle Cook Inlet lease produced — amid a fight over who fixes the gas crunch.

July 2026
Securus asks to raise a surcharge on Alaska prison calls
Securus wants to nudge up a surcharge on calls from Alaska prisons. The steeper per-minute increase people remember came from a different, earlier filing.
