Juneau residents have begun to receive their electric bills, and although the numbers are staggeringly higher than normal, they are not as high as expected. Photo courtesy the AP.
Story Created:
May 21, 2008 at 11:27 AM AKST
Story Updated:
May 21, 2008 at 11:34 AM AKST
Electric bills have begun to arrive at the homes of Juneau residents, and clearly the numbers speak for themselves. One of the first to receive his bill since the downing of the city's power transmission lines, was Larry Buzzel, who saw a 30-percent jump in costs even with a 25-percent reduction in energy use.
However this number is still considerably favorable when compared to initial estimates, which predicted a fivefold increase.
Since an avalanche knocked out power transmission lines last month, the entire city has been running on diesel fuel to generate power.
A spokeswoman for Alaska Electric Light & Power Co., Gayle Wood, said the lower-than-expected bills are due to the city's communal efforts to conserve energy.
