The 1.3 million households and organizations that buy electricity from Arizona Public Service will see an increase in their electric bills following a 4-1 vote on Thursday, Feb. 22, by the Arizona Corporation Commission to allow APS to raise its rates.
“Starting on or after [Friday,] March 8, 2024, the average residential customer using 1,050 kilowatt hours [kWh] per month will see an expected bill increase of roughly 8%, or about $10.50 a month,” APS stated in a press release.
Estimated increases for business customers are still being determined.
Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the publicly-traded company that owns APS, has a current market capitalization of around $8 billion.
The dissenting vote was cast by Commissioner Anna Tovar [D], who was also the only vote against an amendment that increased the monthly fee for residential customers who have rooftop solar systems from $2 to $3 for a typical 10-kilowatt residential solar system.
“I am an APS customer in Camp Verde, and am opposed to the proposed rate hikes,” former Camp Verde Mayor Tony Gioia wrote to the ACC. “Firstly, I wish to comment [on] the bias against private solar residents for an additional 15% surcharge upon residential solar ratepayers above and beyond the requested rate hike. I see this as an affront to those who have made personal and family commitments along with investments in their own financial and energy self-reliance … This is a discriminatory effort and will likely face court debate if moved forward.”
“This discriminatory fee was proposed in the final stage of a multi-year rate case proceeding, and there has been no testimony or briefing addressing the fee or opportunity for the public to comment on it,” Solar United Neighbors organizer Seth Newmeyer said in a press release. “This significant increase comes on the heels of a 2023 rate hike caused by APS’s overreliance on natural gas that increased the average residential customer’s bill by $145 annually.”
APS stated that the increase “will allow APS to continue to meet customers’ needs, recover costs spent to maintain and upgrade the electric system, and invest in infrastructure that delivers reliable and resilient power.”
Verde Valley residents have seen the effect of APS’ decisions on their wallets already over the last year. Village of Oak Creek resident
Tom White pointed out that his January 2023 electrical bill was $73, while his January 2024 bill was $133, even though he used the same amount of electricity.
“When you live on a fixed budget, [the APS rate increase] is part of the package of everything going up, with car insurance, rent insurance, the food, the electric now, I mean, it’s just a laundry list of things that you see things increasing anywhere from 30% to 50%,” White said. “I’m 73 so I’m on Social Security and it only goes up, what, 3.7% or 3.8% percent … you can’t keep up … I live by myself, I have no family. I have a dog. The bottom line is how long can you keep up and just break even, not gaining anything or buying anything fancy or anything? How long can you just keep paying your bills?”
Many community groups opposed the proposed rate increase.
Sheri Heiney, president and CEO of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce and John Courtis, volunteer director of the Chino Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, submitted letters to the commission in support of the increase.
Several other businesses also supported the increase, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which stated, “highly reliable power will play a factor in any future plans for expansion in Arizona.”
“The generation and transmission of highly reliable power is of the utmost importance to allow the production of advanced technology semiconductors that will be manufactured at our TSMC Arizona facility,” Facility Operations Director TSMC Arizona Greg Jackson wrote. “We currently have two leading-edge manufacturing fabrication facilities under construction … The overall investment for these two tabs will be approximately U.S. $40 billion, representing the largest foreign direct investment in Arizona history and one of the largest foreign direct investments in the history of the United States. Our operation will be a great contributor to the U.S. federal govemrnent’s [sic] national goal to onshore more semiconductor manufacturing in our country.”
During the rate increase hearing, the commission also voted unanimously to prohibit APS from using rate revenues for marketing.
