Goodness knows Deckboss has posted plenty of gnarly news out of Adak Island over the past couple of years.
Now here's more: The local electric utility, TDX Adak Generating, is asking state regulators to approve a 136 percent rate increase for all residential and commercial customers.
Here's the letter to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska spelling out the reasons for the steep rate hike.
I can understand why TDX is asking for a rate increase. However, I can see this as a deterrent for future business prospects for the island.
ReplyDeleteI also can understand why TDX is raising rates....but this is insane...
ReplyDeleteCost per kilowatt hour is crazy out there already and they plan to double it?
This is the beginning of the end for TDX power in Adak. As people start generating their own power, fewer and fewer people are going to start bearing more and more of the costs.
I just did some quick math. TDX claims that 800K+ loss is 54% of their cost. That means their cost for the year was $1595920. If you suppose that there are 200 people on Adak the cost per person is $7979.60. Since there usually aren't anywhere near that many people, the true cost is far higher.
ReplyDeleteNow compare diesel generation. 1kw=1.34hp and the typical house uses about 2kw. The standard rate for a diesel generator is 1 gal/hr=17hp. To make 2kw you would burn 0.16gal/hr. Let's be generous and call that 0.2 gal/hr of fuel.
Suppose diesel fuel costs $5/gal. At that price it costs $1/hr to run the generator. If you run the genset 16 hours a day for 365 days you pay $5840 in fuel. Of course you need to buy a generator, but you can get a 5.5kw diesel genset from Costco for $1100 plus shipping. It weighs about 350 lbs. Let's be generous and say that the genset costs $2000 total.
Now for the final comparison. Genset plus fuel will cost $7840. On the other hand, TDX claims that it costs $7979.60 PER PERSON to deliver electricity.
The bottom line: you can buy a generator and run it all year long to supply a whole family with electricity far cheaper than you can get electricity from TDX. In fact, you can buy a brand new generator every year and it will be cheaper.
They lost all that money because Adak Fisheries never paid their bill
ReplyDeleteWhat does the rate hike equate to for residential and commercial per kilowatt hour?
ReplyDeletesolberg ruined adak
ReplyDeletethat is for sure!
ReplyDeleteWhen you add the total bill(demand, energy, customer, fuel, tax, etc) by the total kilowatt hours used. I saw a commercial bill from this fall that has the effective rate at 80 cents per KW. They are going to double that?
ReplyDeletesolberg sucks
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous #2 that kindly did some math for us. Not only will it be cheaper to self-generate power, it'll most likely be more reliable.
ReplyDeleteWell if you can purchase fuel from the Aleut Corporation then it probably would work.
ReplyDeleteTough luck for the ADAK processing plant that can't purchase fuel due to not paying for fuel they already consumed.
I see another year of no Processing plant in Adak.
I heard the deal has been struck and they will be processing. Aleut wants to sell fuel. That's what they do. They just aren't going to give it away though.
ReplyDeleteWell ok but they still have to get boats to deliver to them, beyond just the ones that are owned by Adak or people involved in Adak.
ReplyDeleteIt is my understanding that most vessels WILL NOT deliver to Adak, but that is just rumor mill. Only time will tell.
I still stick with my opinion that Adak is a failed venture.
Adak will prosper, just not now. Resource wars in this world will start soon and the breadbasket of our nation will be the front line.
ReplyDelete