YUMA, Ariz.-
The Arizona Public Service Electric Company, Arizona’s largest electric utility, submitted a rate hike to the Arizona Corporation Commission Thursday.
The proposed plan would increase electricity bills by about 8% meaning APS customers will have to pay about $11 more a month adding up to $132 per year. APS officials say they want to implement these changes in order to help save electricity and improves their services.
Jeff Spohn the Southwest Division manager for APS says the proposal has two parts, “the first part is an increase in rates and the second part is redesigning how your bill is calculated.”
APS also wants to put customers on a new billing plan that would encourage them to use less electricity during peak hours. Customers that don’t stagger the use of power-hungry appliances during peak hours would pay more. However Spohn says the way the new billing plan in structured could save you money. “We are providing an opportunity through demand rates to shift, stagger and save. So how they use their appliances and how they manage their energy use provides some significant opportunities for savings,” says Spohn.
The current peak hours run from noon to 7 pm. The new peak hours would run from 3 pm to 8 pm Monday through Friday. It would also offer four new “off-peak” holidays, increasing the total number to 10.
“So what we would like our customers to understand is the potential is there for the bill to increase however there is also a significant potential for our customers to save when they are actively managing their energy usage.”
The ACC has an entire year to review the APS proposal. If approved, the rate hike would go into effect July 1st of 2017.