Sun City residents gear up for APS rate hike open comments

By Jennifer Jimenez
Mail | X: @SCW_Independent

Coming up this month, the judge assigned to the Arizona Corporation Commission’s (ACC)  APS rate case will hear comments about the rate proposal.

According to APS official Ann Porter, APS filed the rate application in June of last year. She said the open comment sessions are a part of a long and transparent process that the ACC has in place for any rate adjustments.

“These public comment sessions are all part of the data gathering process that the Administrative Law Judge oversees – before APS and other interested parties discuss the rate case, in person. (The current timeline projects that this will happen in May or June of this year.) At the end of that process, the Arizona Corporation Commission will hear the Judge’s recommendation and make a decision at the end of this year, or even possibly early 2027. Rate adjustments will not happen until the process is complete,” she stated in an email.

The proposed 14.58% increase means approximately a $20 a month extra on billing statement for all APS utility consumers, if the commissioners agree.

The Sun City Homeowners Association partnered with Aimee Cvancara, associate state director AARP Arizona; Cynthia Zwick, director with the Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO); Diane E. Brown, executive director with the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG) Education Fund; and Kelly McGowan, executive director with Wildfire.

Property Owners and Residents Association board directors David Hunter and Tom Jones also attended the presentation.

“Every time there is  rate case, myself and Ralph Johnson intervene through RUCO,” said Hunter.

Hunter said the extra encouragement for residents to get involved helps to make a bigger impact. He said in most rate cases, PORA and SCHOA partner to create a larger group of supporters.

Zwick explained during the meeting the power of residents showing up to the ACC hearing and said individuals from the Sun Cities are still talked about at the ACC, when they arrived in bus loads to be heard in downtown Phoenix years ago.

Residents can attend the ACC hearing for public comment in person at 10 a.m.,  Wednesday, Feb. 18,  at the Arizona Corporation Commission, 1200 W. Washington St., or call 1-877-309-3457, using passcode 801972877#. Then, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, individuals can call in by phone only using the same number and passcode.

“PORA is intervening on behalf of Sun City West, but all of our residents are encouraged to participate in the public comment,” said Hunter.

Sun City Homeowners Association President Ed Van Ness said the first step for the organization was to get the information out to the public and the expectation is for Sun City residents to step up. He said residents can write letters and head downtown.

“I am only one person, and so what we are doing is giving you the information, and it is your job now to run with this and go to SCHOA  and PORA  and see what we can come up with as a coalition,” said Van Ness.

According to Zwick, APS officials are citing high inflation and interest rates, growth, system investment needs, residents’ rates below the national average, regulatory lag and wildfire risk. The request includes formula rates, which Zwick said would be a huge shift.

“Every utility is coming in asking for a formula rate and historically a 12-month period of expenses gets incorporated into the rates going forward. The utilities are requesting an opportunity to true-up expenses on an annual basis and pass those along and have a mechanism to auto adjust rates based on a formula set in this rate case,” said Zwick.

The positives, according to the utilities  include improved regulatory environment, rate gradualism and avoidance of rate shocks, a flow-through of cost savings to customers, reduction of regulator lag, elimination of frequent, lengthy, costly rate cases and others.

Zwick said RUCO officials are concerned that this will be implemented too quickly without any evidence. She said a lot of research has been done in other states and those colleagues see rates go up fairly consistently and higher than a traditional uniform rate increase.

Brown said most folks assume in APS rates cases, the ACC will  give APS the rate they are requesting and there is nothing that can be done about it.

“That is not the case and exactly why we are here now. We want you to know your voice can make a big impact in the APS rate case. In the last rate case they requested about $700 million and got closer to $500 million. About $200 million was saved for rate payers and we want to  give credit to folks who did weigh in and let folks on the commission understand the impacts,” she said.

McGowan said Wildfire helps with programs for people seeking utility bill assistance and understands the impact it has on residents.

“In the last 12 months, 21%  of Arizonans could not pay the full utility bill  and 27% kept their house in an unsafe or unhealthy temperature to reduce the bill, which causes health impacts. Eighteen percent reduced other household necessities to try to pay and  not buying meds and food to the same extent,” she said.

Cvancara said $20 per household  can easily get lost when the utility is talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.

She said APS has an obligation to its customers, but also to its investors, and that can be difficult.

“AARP believes, like always, the rate payer should be the priority and investors should come second. It is truly a balanacing act,” she said.

 Residents who would like to submit letters, can email those to dbrown@arizonapirg.org, with Letter on APS rate case in the subject line. Letters can also be submitted throuhg the ACC’s online form efiling.azcc.gov/online-services/utilities-public-comment-external.

To learn more about the APS rate case proposal, visit www.aps.com/ratecase

Reporter Jennifer Jimenez can be reached at jjimenez@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Jennifer Jimenez
Reporter | Sun City West

jjimenez@iniusa.org

Meet Jennifer

In 2020, Jennifer Jimenez began working for Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA. She began her career as a sports reporter in Peoria and Glendale, covering the very same schools she used to compete at.  During this time, she also worked for television news, magazines and sports radio stations.

Community: Jennifer is a member of the Hall of Fame at Peoria High School where she graduated in 2001, alongside her father Joe Hernandez. She serves youth soccer players as a pro-trainer and coach.  

Education: Grand Canyon University 2005 B.A. Liberal Arts

Ranom Fact: She has a street named after her in south Peoria “Jennifer Rose Court.”

Hobbies: Country dancing, coaching soccer, teaching private swim lessons and running are things she does for fun.