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. The base rate portion of your bill, which includes "energy" and "demand" charges, covers the majority of costs required to deliver power to your home or business. The small COPA increase is primarily driven by higher fuel usage anticipated for the upcoming winter months.

MEA may file limited base rate adjustments on a quarterly basis, as long as these changes remain within financial guidelines set by the RCA. All rates are subject to a variety of factors including member electric use, weather, inflation, and other economic factors.

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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.

2023 4Q Rates: No change in base rates, slight increase in COPA rate

Starting October 1, MEA members will see a slight overall increase in rates due to fourth quarter changes to the COPA (Cost of Power Adjustment) rate, subject to RCA review and approval. A typical MEA member consumes approximately 652 kWh per month and can expect to see an overall total increase of about $0.46 on their monthly bill due to the slight increase in the COPA rate. For the third quarter in a row, the MEA Board of Directors approved no change to base rates. The base rate component (consisting of the “energy” and “demand” charges) includes the bulk of the other costs necessary to bring power to MEA members’ homes and businesses. MEA’s total charge (including RRC and ERO charges) per kWh is about 20.3 cents (compared to 20.2 cents a year prior).

2023 3Q Rates: No change in base rates, slight decrease in COPA rate

Starting July 1, MEA members will see no change to base rates (also known as the "energy charge") as approved by the MEA Board of Directors. Also in the third quarter, the COPA component of rates, which remains subject to RCA review and approval, decreased slightly due to the receipt of certain refunds associated with both the powerpool agreement and the Bradley Lake Hydro Project offsetting cost increases in other areas included in the COPA calculation. A typical MEA member consumes approximately 652 kWh per month and can expect to see an overall decrease of about $0.04 in their monthly bill due to the decrease in the COPA rate.

2023 2Q Rates: No Change in base Rates, Slight Decrease in COPA rate

Starting April 1, MEA members will see no change to base rates (also known as the "energy charge") as approved by the MEA Board of Directors at their February Board meeting. Also in the second quarter, the COPA component of rates, which primarily recovers fuel and purchased power costs, decreased slightly by approximately 0.2%, subject to RCA review and approval. Effective April 1, MEA members will see the new Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) charge on their monthly bill. A typical MEA member consumes approximately 653 kWh per month and can expect to see an overall increase of about $0.39 (or 0.27%) on their monthly bill due to the new ERO charge.
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2023 1Q Rates: Overall Remain Unchanged

A typical MEA member consumes approximately 673 kWh of electricity per month and can expect to see roughly no change to their monthly bill due to first quarter rate revisions in 2023. MEA’s Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA) is decreasing by 4.45% from the previous quarter, which is subject to RCA review and approval. The COPA decrease is being offset by a 2.5% increase in base rates, which took effect January 1,2023, and was approved by the RCA. MEA’s Board of Directors voted to increase base rates in the first quarter of 2023 by 2.5% due to inflationary increases to the cost of bringing power to members’ homes and businesses.

View MEA's Current Quarter Rate Sheet (.pdf)