Juneau -- The House Community and Regional Affairs (C&RA) Committee, meeting in a Sunday session, has upped the funding for rural Power Cost Equalization (PCE) by $4.3 million.

"The bill which came from the Senate allocated $12.1 million for PCE for residential customers. The C&RA Committee bill ups that figure to $16.4 million," said Representative Carl Morgan (R-Aniak), a member of the C&RA Committee and driving force behind the increase. "I want to thank my fellow committee members for committing themselves to a long term revenue stream with new and increased funding sources for the vital PCE program."

Representative Andrew Halcro (R-Anchorage), Co-Chair of the C&RA Committee, praised Morgan's work on the bill. "Representative Morgan put in a tremendous amount of work putting this legislation together," Halcro said. "He found a way to come in below the budget cap and still fully fund PCE for the long-term. He should be commended for putting together a creative solution for PCE."

The House C&RA Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 157 permits funds to be appropriated from lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA), after the funding formula for such monies is satisfied. The bill raises the funding level for PCE from the Four Dam Pool from 40 percent to 60 percent and allows for gifts. It also permits the use of a portion of Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) dividend to be used for the PCE program after Fiscal Year 2000.

"The PCE program is vitally important to rural Alaska and I am very pleased that the C&RA Committee members understand this and are willing to act on that understanding," Morgan said. "These new funding sources should enable residential customers to feel more secure about the future of the program."

The bill now moves to the House Finance Committee.