APS challenges rate-hike complaint as 100K customers face deadline to change rate plans

Arizona Public Service Co. on Tuesday asked utility regulators to either dismiss a petition for a rehearing of the company's recent rate hike, or for the protesters to be more specific with their complaint.

That request comes as about 100,000 APS customers are facing their first deadline to choose a new rate plan under the rate hike approved by regulators in August.

The customers must either select a new rate plan or the utility will make the decision for them in the next month. All customers will face such a deadline before May as APS systematically shifts them to the new plans.

Customers will be notified by mail regarding their deadlines.

Why APS claims complaint is vague

Arizona Corporation Commissioners voted 4-1 in August to allow APS to raise rates on more than 1 million customers. APS said the increase would average 4.5 percent on residential customers, but many said the increase on their bills has been more than that.

Led by community activist Stacey Champion, about 1,500 people signed a petition asking the Corporation Commissioners to rehear the matter.

The commission created a new docket for the complaint where interested parties may submit their comments, and eventually a judge will suggest whether a rehearing in the case should take place, and make a recommendation to the elected commissioners who will have the final say.

APS told the commission the complaint is too vague and "does not provide a sufficient basis to sustain a complaint."

"Although Ms. Champion’s complaint references several grievances against the company, her general commentary does not provide grounds for a complaint," APS said in its filing.

"We are offering Ms. Champion and her constituency the opportunity to clarify the violation that has actually occurred," APS Director of State Regulation Greg Bernosky said Tuesday.

If Champion can't clarify the complaint, regulators should dismiss it, the company said.

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Champion disputes that characterization.

"My words were pretty clear," she said Wednesday. "I personally do not feel that anybody delved in deep enough to ask the right questions. This rate hike was absolutely unfair and unjustified."

She said she has cut her energy use, particularly during on-peak hours, and still is paying more, and that hundreds of APS customers have shared similar stories with her.

Champion is not an attorney and she has been unable to find an attorney in Arizona willing to represent her group, she said.

How the increase affects you

The increase is complex because APS raised rates in August almost immediately after four commissioners approved the hike, and all customers saw a jump in their rates.

Now APS is transitioning customers to new rate schedules. They shouldn't see further increases on the new schedules, but that depends largely on how customers adapt to the plans.

For example, customers using a new "time of use" rate plans will see the on-peak hours — when energy is more expensive — become 3-8 p.m. On-peak hours in the old plans were from noon to 7 p.m. If they don't conserve power during the new time, customers will pay more.

"Many APS customers also believe their bills will increase dramatically once they choose and/or have APS choose for them, (and) the new rate plans that include extended peak hours, higher-cost off-peak hours," Champion said in a regulatory filing this week.

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APS can't switch all customers to new plans overnight, so the transition is happening gradually. About 60,000 customers at a time are being told they have a month to choose a new plan or APS will move them to the plan most similar to their current plan, Bernosky said.

If a customer wants to switch plans before their deadline, they may do so by contacting the utility. About 174,000 customers already are on the new plans, according to APS.

Bernosky said APS is implementing the rate hike as it was described to regulators.

"We have been implementing this to the letter," he said "There have been no deviations."

He could not say, however, how customers who have switched rate plans are adapting to the changes and whether their increases average out as anticipated.

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