Hilcorp’s Tyonek natural gas platform in Cook Inlet in 2023. A jackup drilling rig is attached to the platform and stands behind it on the latticed legs. (Photo by Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
When Anchorage’s big electric utility asked regulators’ permission last year to raise its rates by 5.5%, renewable energy advocates responded with a counterproposal .
Could heavy residential users of power be charged even higher prices for each kilowatt of electricity, as a way to encourage conservation of Alaska’s dwindling supply of natural gas?
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska last week ruled on the broader rate increase requested by Chugach Electric Association.
The utility says it’s still studying the intricate, 89-page order to understand its effects.
But to the advocates who proposed the natural gas conservation scheme, there was one clear takeaway: The order made just one passing reference to their proposal, and, they say, it ignored a state law that requires the commission, when setting electricity rates, to “promote the conservation of resources” used to generate power.