Utility Ruling Lowers Rates for Arizona Public Service Customers

When Tom Does­cher moved from Glendale to Phoenix a few years ago, his new utility provider, Arizona Public Service, presented him with a confusing choice of rate plans. Trying to determine which option was least expensive, he used APS’ own online tool. It was a costly mistake.

“I found out later I would have saved money if I’d been on another plan,” says Doescher, 74, a retired housing official who chairs an AARP Arizona advocacy committee on utilities.

But a spate of recent changes—which AARP and other consumer groups pushed for—will help Arizonans avoid paying too much for electricity and natural gas.

In November, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted 3–2 to require APS to simplify rate plans; to offer its least-expensive plan to new customers; to keep fixed charges the same for most plans; to shorten on-peak hours; and, most significantly, to reduce base rates. The rate reduction, which took effect Dec. 1, will result in $119 million in annual savings for ratepayers,  which means a roughly 2 percent average decrease in monthly bills. 

“Consumers are already seeing an advantage,” says ACC Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peter­son, who voted in favor of the updates.

APS customers are also likely to benefit from a two-hour reduction in peak hours—when rates are higher—from 3 to 8 p.m. to 4 to 7 p.m. APS has said, however, that it could take up to 10 months to implement the switch. 

The outcome of the case was a vindication for AARP Arizona, which opposed a previous ruling that allowed APS to raise rates through various means, including steering new customers toward costlier plans.

“As a result of the efforts by our team of staff and volunteers over the last four years, we were able to secure this victory for Arizona customers,” says Brendon Blake, AARP Arizona advocacy director.

APS is the state’s largest electric utility and serves about two-thirds of the Phoenix metro area. The company called the decision “shortsighted,” and a spokesman says the utility plans to sue.

Banning Disconnections

In a separate case, the ACC ruled that electric utilities must either stop disconnecting customers on days when the temperature is above 95 degrees or completely stop shutoffs for nonpayment between June 1 and Oct. 15. 

The rule makes permanent a temporary summer disconnection ban, which was enacted after the August 2018 heat-related death of 72-year-old Phoenix-area resident Stephanie Pullman. APS cut off her power on a 107-degree day for nonpayment of a past-due bill totaling $51.

The new rule will also raise the past-due-bill threshold for disconnection from $100 to $300 for electricity and from $75 to $100 for natural gas.

“The summer-long moratorium will save lives,” says John Coffman, a lawyer and utility regulation consultant who worked on the case for AARP.

Hundreds of Americans die every year during heat waves—many of them older people, who are at greater risk, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

AARP Arizona is always looking for more volunteers to advocate on utilities and other issues affecting older adults. Contact Brendon Blake at bblake@aarp.org or call 602-245-8801. 

Miriam Davidson is a writer living in Tuscon.

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