By Brent Ruffner
Mail | X: @AzNewsmedia

Some Valley veterans and retirees are concerned over the recently approved Salt River Project utility price hike.

On Thursday, the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District Board approved a rate hike that will increase energy bills by 2.4% for all residential and commercial SRP customers, on average.

The average residential customer is expected to see a monthly bill increase of 3.5%, or $5.61, according to a press release.

In December, SRP announced the price change “reflects a proposed increase of $168.8 million in base revenue to support upgrades to the power system and an anticipated decrease of $67.7 million in fuel and purchased power revenues, which are recovered through the fuel and purchased power” adjustment mechanism rate.

SRP asked its board for an increase of 3.5%, or $5.64 for the average residential customer.

The new rates take effect on the November 2025 billing cycle. SRP serves about 1.1 million Valley residents.

But some Valley residents are less than happy over the rate hike.
Chris Hill, a U.S. Army veteran, said his SRP energy bill has gone up about 20% over the past four years.

Current high temperatures have prompted the Gilbert resident to turn on his home’s air conditioning unit in February.

Valley temps are heating up. On Feb. 25, Sky Harbor International Airport hit a high of 90 degrees — two degrees shy of the record mark set in 1921, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

“I just know everyone (is dealing with) higher prices,” Hill said. “You can give up some things. Utilities and energy isn’t one of them.”

Some residents on fixed incomes also are feeling the financial pinch of rising costs of items such as eggs and gas. Adding a hike to energy doesn’t help, said Anna Cicero, a Chandler resident who attended Thursday’s meeting.

She said she knows of peers from the Arizona Alliance of Retired Educators that some adult children have had to take their kids in which drives up costs.

“Everything has gone up,” Cicero said. “...How much more can you take?”

Hill said Arizona State University — which touts itself as a sustainability leader — should partner with the local utility on renewable energy.

The cost of inflation and everyday bills increasing is a “heavy” pressure, Hill said.

“I’ve got three kids in college,” Hill said. “Every dollar counts.”

Brent Ruffner
Lead News Reporter | Phoenix Independent

BRuffner@iniusa.org

Journalism has fascinated Brent Ruffner since junior high school.

Since 2001, his stories have been published in newspapers from the Albuquerque to the Arizona and he has always had a knack for making sure his facts are right and his words are to the point. 

Growing up, Brent watched as sports reporters covered his beloved Phoenix Suns, a team he followed since Charles Barkley first arrived in Phoenix via trade in 1992. Sports reporting was a dream back then.

But after gaining some writing experience, Brent found a love for news instead of covering different types of sports. In 2008, he moved to New Mexico and covered crime, schools and city beats all while holding elected officials accountable. 

He covered stories that ranged from a DEA drug bust gone bad to an award-winning story on school lunches. 

In Arizona, Brent was a freelance writer who covered everything from the importance of citrus in the state to Esteban owning a store in downtown Prescott. 

Brent is a 2007 graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.