PHOENIX — APS customers can expect to pay more on their electric bills soon.
The Arizona Corporation Commission approved a requested APS rate hike at a meeting Thursday evening with a 4-1 vote.
As of Thursday night, APS officials continue to work on the data but preliminary information shows an 8% increase and a range of $10-12 a month for the typical residential customer.
Commissioner Anna Tovar was the only one who voted against the hike.
This move comes after APS also got another rate hike approved just last year.
Last year, Arizona state utilities saw a surge in demand as temperatures soared to record levels over the summer.
That heat helped drive a 22% increase in third-quarter profit for Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the publicly traded company that owns APS.
In a third-quarter earnings call, Jeff Guldner, president and CEO of Pinnacle West Capital, said APS set five new peak energy demand records during July.
APS shared the following statement with ABC15 Thursday evening:
"Today marks the completion of a more than a year-long public process on how APS will continue to provide our approximately 1.4 million customers with reliable and resilient power. This adjustment will allow us to continue to provide reliable energy, recover costs already spent to maintain and upgrade the electric system and invest in infrastructure for the future. While we realize it is never a good time to increase rates and this change will impact customers differently, we included increased assistance to our most vulnerable customers in this rate case. We’re still working through the data, but preliminary estimates show a bill impact of roughly 8%, in the range of 10-$12 a month, for a typical residential customer."
Individual bills will vary based on how much energy is used and the type of service plan.
