2025 3Q Rates: Overall Rate Increase

Beginning July 1, 2025, MEA members will see an increase in their electric bills due to a 3% increase in base rates and a 12.2% increase in the Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA) component of rates. The base rate reflects the fixed cost of delivering electricity to homes and businesses and was approved by both the MEA Board of Directors and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). The COPA rate, which primarily recovers fuel and purchased power costs, is adjusted quarterly and subject to RCA review and approval.

These changes will result in an average monthly increase of approximately $8.87, or 5.7% overall, for a typical member using 642 kilowatt-hours.

MEA’s Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA) rate—which recovers the cost of fuel used to generate electricity and power purchased from other sources—is higher this quarter due to increased anticipated purchases of Eklutna hydro power from the Municipality of Anchorage, as well as additional tight pool power purchases from Chugach Electric during the third quarter. This increase is further compounded by an under-collection of costs from earlier in the year. Some fuel expenses were undercharged in previous COPA filings, and a milder-than-usual winter led to lower electricity usage across our system, reducing the ability to spread those fixed costs. As required by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), MEA must now recover those undercharged amounts through this quarter’s COPA rate. All else being equal, once these recovery amounts are collected, we anticipate the COPA rate will return to more typical levels next quarter.

MEA evaluates rates quarterly to ensure they align with RCA-approved guidelines and reflect changing fuel costs, generation sources, and member demand. Factors such as energy use, market fuel prices, weather conditions, and broader economic trends can all impact electric rates.

2025 2Q Rates: Overall Rate Increase

MEA members will see a small increase in their electric bills starting April 1, 2025, due to a slight rise in the Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA). While base rates remain unchanged for the second quarter, the COPA will increase by half a cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh), resulting in an overall average bill increase of approximately $3.18 per month, or 2.09%, for atypical member using 642 kWh. For the second quarter, MEA’s projected fuel costs have decreased; however, this was offset by an increase in purchased power—particularly hydroelectric power—and a rise in the balancing account. The balancing account adjustment was necessary due to lower-than-expected energy sales during a warmer-than-usual first quarter. The COPA rate, which primarily includes fuel and purchased power costs, is subject to RCA review and approval. The base rate component (consisting of the "energy" and "demand" charges) of member bills includes the bulk of the other costs necessary to bring power to MEA members' homes and businesses.

2025 1Q Rates: Overall Rate Decrease

‍Starting January 1, 2025, MEA members will see an overall decrease in their electricity rates due to a 3% increase in the base rates but a 10.64% decrease in COPA (Cost of Power Adjustment) rates. A typical MEA member consumes approximately 650 kWh per month of electricity and can expect a total decrease of about $2.87 on their monthly bill due to these first quarter adjustments. The COPA rate, which primarily includes fuel and purchased power costs, is subject to RCA review and approval. The base rate component (consisting of the "energy" and "demand" charges) of member bills includes the bulk of the other costs necessary to bring power to MEA members' homes and businesses and has been approved by the RCA effective January 1st. There was also a slight increase to the ERO (Electric Reliability Organization) rate of 6.56%. This charge supports the state mandated Railbelt Reliability Council (RRC) which was approved as the Electric Reliability Organization by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in September of 2022.

2024 4Q Rates: Base Rate Unchanged, Increase in COPA Rate

Beginning October 1, 2024, MEA members will experience a slight overall increase in their electricity rates due to a 1.16% increase in the Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA) rate. The COPA rate, which accounts for fuel and purchased power costs, is reviewed and approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). For the fourth quarter, the MEA Board of Directors made no changes to base rates. For a typical MEA member using approximately 650 kWh of electricity per month, this adjustment will result in an estimated increase of about $0.60 on their monthly bill.
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2024 3Q Rates: Increase in Base and COPA Rates

Starting July 1, 2024, MEA members will see an overall increase in their electricity rates due to a 2.5% increase in the base rates, and an 8.5% increase in the Cost of Power Adjustment Rate (COPA). A typical MEA member consumes approximately 650 kWh per month of electricity and can expect a total increase of about $6.26 on their monthly bill due to these third quarter adjustments. The COPA rate, which primarily includes fuel and purchased power costs, is subject to RCA review and approval. The base rate component (consisting of the "energy" and "demand" charges) of member bills includes the bulk of the other costs necessary to bring power to MEA members' homes and businesses and has been approved by the RCA effective July 1st. The COPA increase is primarily due to an increase in projected purchased power during third quarter, and the base rate increase is due to continued increases in MEA's operating costs, albeit that this increase had originally been expected to be implemented during second quarter but was able to be deferred until third quarter.

2024 2Q Rates: No change in base rates, increase in COPA rate

Starting April 1, 2024, MEA members will see an overall increase in their rates due to a 5.6% increase in the Cost of Power Adjustment Rate (COPA) component of their bills. A typical MEA member consumes approximately 650 kWh per month of electricity and can expect a total increase of about $2.54 (or 1.7%) on their monthly bill due to the second quarter COPA adjustment. The COPA increase is primarily due to an increase in projected purchased power and a decrease in power sales. The MEA Board of Directors voted not to change base rates in the second quarter.  

2024 1Q Rates: Members to see slight increase in overall rates

Starting in January 2024, MEA members will see a slight overall increase in their rates due to a 2.5% increase in base rates and a 0.46% increase in the Cost of Power Adjustment Rate (COPA). A typical MEA member consumes approximately 652 kWh per month of electricity and can expect a total increase of about $2.24 on their monthly bill due to these first quarter rate adjustments.

View MEA's current quarter rate sheet: