FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Fairbanks Mayor John Eberhart has filed formal opposition to a proposed increase in steam heat rates, saying there wasn’t sufficient time for the city to vet Aurora Energy’s position.
Aurora Energy on Dec. 9 filed a request with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, seeking approval of a 95-percent rate increase, from $10.50 to $20.45 per 1,000 pounds of steam. Aurora Energy president A.L. “Buki” Wright, in the filing, said it has been at least 28 years since the last increase and the existing rate covers only about half the cost of providing the service. Aurora Energy is an affiliate of Usibelli Coal Mine, whose coal it uses to fuel its downtown power plant.
Eberhart, in his letter to the commission, said that while Aurora Energy is entitled to make a “reasonable rate of return on its public utility system investment,” there wasn’t enough time between the Aurora filing and the close of public comments for the city to evaluate Aurora’s position. He wrote that the city “has an obligation to its citizens not to accept Aurora’s numbers on faith,” the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported (https://bit.ly/1b00ucg ).
While two different dates were published as the end of the comment period, the period closed Monday. There were 11 comments filed, including from Eberhart, all opposing the increase. Some commenters called the rate of increase unacceptable while some said the timing of the filing, around the holidays, discouraged public comment.
Wright and Aurora attorney A. William Saupe, in subsequent commission filings, said the company doesn’t intend to implement the increase at once. Saupe said the company “understands that any increase in rates will have an impact on its customers and will try to make increases as gradually as possible, while still beginning to recover the cost of providing steam heat.”
The commission in 2011 denied a request by Aurora to roughly double its steam rates over several years to more closely align with its hot water rates. The commission found the company had not provided enough evidence that there was an unreasonable difference between steam heat rates and its unregulated rates for hot water customers.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, https://www.newsminer.com
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