FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – Despite an increase in energy generation capacity, a decreasing consumer base has led to higher energy prices in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
Years of development in the state of Alaska have provided an increased capacity for generating power, but consumption has declined according to Dr. Jeremy Kasper, the director of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
That’s important Kasper says because fewer customers cause prices to go up. Between 2011 and 2021, all areas in Alaska saw an increase in energy generation capacity including “large increases in renewable energy capacity, storage, and on-demand peaking units,” according to ACEP.
A significant portion of those gains have come from wind and hydro power with a decrease in oil-based energy as of 2021.
These have bolstered the energy available to Alaskans, but “electricity consumption overall has fallen for all customer classes, with residential customers seeing the most reductions,” as stated by ACEP.
The region seeing the highest increase in residential rate was the rail belt which experienced a 26% increase.
In Fairbanks, the burden of those energy costs was highest for the residents in the downtown area.
“The weighted average energy cost burden for FNSB residents is 10.12% of household income,” according to ACEP.
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