NJUS: Fuel Surcharge to increase, budget and audits still missing

Starting with the next Nome Joint Utilities bill cycle, NJUS customers will see over double the generator fuel surcharge, Utility Manager John Handeland said at the board meeting Thursday.
The board discussed the increased fuel surcharge without the contextual understanding of its impact on the utility because the board has still not received the 2026 budget and are missing audits dating back five years.
Board members expressed frustration over the cycle of requesting the budget and audits meeting after meeting with no follow through.
“I asked for this stuff at the last meeting or two ago and you said you’d have it,” board member Larry Pederson said, directed to Handeland.
“I did and I’ve been sick,” Handeland said.
Handeland said he has contacted a CPA, Travis Werba from a contract accounting firm in Anchorage to work virtually next week to “pick up these final pieces I have on budget.”
Handeland did not give a date when the budget would be completed but board members urged him to put something together immediately.
“It's hard for me to sit here and listen to wanting more equipment, needing more of this, needing more of that,” Pederson said. “We don't have a budget to even say, okay, where are we going to put that? Where are we going to allocate it?”

Audit backlog
Werba, the contract accountant, plans to travel to Nome in December to work on completing the unfinished audits dating back to 2022, Handeland said.
Board member Carl Emmons said the audit firm NJUS has been working with, BDO, is still waiting on information from the utility to complete 2022-2025 audits, including credit card charges. Handeland said he’s “working on that.”
Emmons urged Handeland to hire someone to help with audits to just get things done.
“Let’s do this as a priority. I mean, that’s what’s going to affect the cost of everything else we do,” Emmons said.
Back in July, Handeland and NJUS’s Chief Financial Officer Chris Coffman said the 2021 audit was complete; it has not been made publicly available or been presented to the board.

Fuel surcharge
The utility estimates the fuel surcharge component utility bills to go up to 40 cents per kWh, more than double the previous cost of 18 cents and a higher number than Handeland’s August estimation of 30 cents.
Handeland said as soon as the fuel payment is finalized, he will submit the information on the cost to the Alaska Energy Authority and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska so the Power Cost Equalization, or PCE, can be adjusted accordingly.

Other news
The ongoing union negotiations were also discussed. Union members are currently working without contracts which are expected to be finalized in December, Handeland said. Once negotiations are complete, workers will receive backpay from January 1, 2026, Handeland said.

Following the meeting the board entered into executive session to discuss personnel matters. According to board member Larry Pederson, no action was taken afterward.