GVEA customers to see smaller electric bills

Customers of the Golden Valley Electric Association in Fairbanks will see smaller bills from the Fairbanks area utility because of lower oil prices.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://is.gd/MAXgrG) reports customers should see a 28 percent reduction in their electric bills this month.

The utility’s fuel and purchased power rates are set quarterly, so the utility must estimate what its fuel costs will be three months in advance.

Golden Valley President and CEO Cory Borgeson says the utility had estimated oil would be $85 per barrel for the next quarter, when the price actually dropped to about $45- to $50 per barrel.

Borgeson says utility officials requested the rate change from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska a month early to pass the savings on to customers earlier.

- Associated Press