OPINION — If you are an Arizona Public Service customer, you’ve likely heard the utility wants to raise rates by an average of 14%, an average of $20 a month or $240 a year. What you may not know is that APS doesn’t always get what it wants.
The last time APS wanted to raise rates, they proposed close to $700 million and the elected members of the Arizona Corporation Commission — their regulators and ultimate deciders on their proposal — granted them $500 million.
APS customers who express their perspectives, and intervenors that scrutinize and provide evidence contradictory to the utility’s position, offer counter proposals for commissioners to consider. As the Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and others have talked in person with residents in over 50 municipalities in our state, including the Sun Cities, Cave Creek and Carefree, there were a number of common themes that ratepayers told us they want commissioners to keep in mind.
