State utility regulators on Tuesday launched a new inquiry into the rates and profits at Arizona Public Service Co. after almost two years of customer complaints and a formal challenge to the company’s prices. The opening of a new rate case could take more than a year to resolve and end up with APS rates rates going down - or up - depending on what regulators find.
APS Will End Power Shut-offs following 2018 Fatality that May be Related to Heat and Loss of Service
Arizona Public Service Co. is halting all power disconnects for at least 30 days following the death of a 72-year-old Sun City West woman whose power was shut off, the electric company said Thursday. “First and foremost, our hearts go out to this customer's friends and to her family," APS Vice President of Customer Service and Chief Customer Officer Stacy Derstine said in a video the utility released regarding the decision.
APS: Delinquent Customers to Stay Connected After Woman's Heat-Related Death
Arizona Public Service says it will not disconnect the electricity of residential customers who are behind on payments while it reviews its policies. It's a temporary move that comes on the heels of several hotter-than-average days and a week before the official start of summer.
APS Gets to Keep its Rate Increase. What a Surprise.
The Arizona Corporation Commission has decided not to step in and stop APS from soaking a sizable number of its customers. Shocking, I know. Never mind that the Arizona Public Service appears to be collecting more than the additional $95 million in revenue it was supposed to enjoy by raising residential rates on its “average customer” by 4.5 percent rate.
APS Cut Power to Poor Customers 110,000 Times Last Year While Raking in Eye Popping Profit
When the Arizona Corporation Commission meets next week to ponder taking a harder look at whether APS is soaking its customers at why fully half of Arizona Public Services' customers are on rate plans that have them paying the utility more than they need to.
AZ Corporation Commission Reverses Course on 'Shut-Off' Data
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has reversed course on a decision to delete “shut-off” data from annual utility reports. As 12 News reported last week, the commission’s staff made one significant change to its annual electric company survey: the omission of shut-off/disconnect information.
1 in 10 APS Customers Lost Service for Unpaid Bills in 2018
The state’s largest power company shut off electricity service to one in ten customers last year, a rate that was higher for the company than any year since at least 2013. The residential and business customers who had their power shut-off “with notice” because of unpaid bills amounted to more than 110,000.
Arizona Corporation Commission Allows APS Rate Hike — But Won't Dismiss Complaints
Arizona Corporation Commission utility regulators decided that the Arizona Public Service Company will not need to reverse its controversial $95 million rate hike that affected 1 million customers in 2017. However, they also will not dismiss a complaint about the rate hike brought forward by Phoenix resident Stacey Champion. And Arizona Corporation Commission regulators are continuing to dig into APS’s rates.
Have Arizona Utility Regulators (Finally) Seen the Light on APS?
The Arizona Corporation Commission on Wednesday did something wholly new and totally unexpected. It didn’t dance on strings merrily pulled by Arizona Public Service. Oh, our utility regulators stood by APS’s advertised 4.5% rate hike – the one that has resulted in a third of the utility’s customers (read: 300,000 households) stuck with increases averaging 10.8% or more.
APS Keeps Controversial Rate Hike, but Regulators Promise to Keep Digging into Utility's Rates
The $95 million rate hike Arizona Public Service Co. imposed on 1 million customers in 2017 won't be reversed, utility regulators decided Wednesday. But they also refused to dismiss a complaint against that price hike brought by Phoenix resident Stacey Champion, who launched a petition against the increase last year and crowdfunded for a lawyer to spearhead the challenge.
We May Have Lost the Battle Against an APS Rate Hike, but the War’s Not Over
As a single mom, small business owner and someone who had been hit hard during our brutal recession, I have always paid attention to my energy bills. After the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a $95 million rate hike for Arizona Public Service in August 2017, I started paying even closer attention to my bills.
California Billionaire Tom Steyer Criticizes APS Rate Hikes
California billionaire and activist Tom Steyer is once again criticizing Arizona Public Service. Last time around it was the clean energy ballot measure Prop 127, the renewable energy standards initiative. Now, Steyer is joining local activists in calling for a 2017 rate hike to be reversed by Arizona regulators.
California Activist Tom Steyer Jumps into APS Fight, Encourages Protest Over Rate Hike
The billionaire California activist who went head to head with Arizona Public Service Co. last year over a clean-energy ballot measure has joined the fight to overturn a $95 million rate hike by the utility. Tom Steyer is advocating for Arizona regulators to reverse the 2017 rate hike that has drawn complaints from thousands of customers and led to surging stock price for its parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp.
Owner of APS Reports Huge Earnings as Regulators Consider Whether Rates are Too High
The parent company of Arizona Public Service Co. on Wednesday reported that its first-quarter profits were five times that of the same period last year as regulators consider whether the electric company's bills are too high and whether it is earning too much.
She took on Arizona's most powerful company - and she's winning
On this weekend’s “Sunday Square Off,” Stacey Champion yells us how she figured out she could challenge the rate increase Arizona Public Service got two years ago and the utility watchdogs who approved it.
Arizona Corporation Commissioners Grill APS Representatives in First Discussion of Rate Hike Case
Utility regulators voiced their frustration Tuesday over the complex rates charged by Arizona Public Service Co. and the way the company has handled a rate hike that dates to 2017. Tuesday was the first opportunity the five members of the Arizona Corporation Commission had to hear from both APS and the people who brought a challenge to the company's rate hike.
Judge: APS Rates Aren't Too High, Complaint Should be Dismissed
A judge has recommended dismissing a complaint about whether Arizona Public Service Co.'s rates are too high, but the judge still wants to know if the company is earning more than regulators authorized. In 2017, regulators passed a rate hike that APS described as averaging 4.5% on residential customers, or about $6 a month.
Did APS Overdo the Rate Increase?
Did the Arizona Corporation Commission allow APS too high a rate increase? Customers from Rim Country to the Valley agree — yes! One Phoenix customer, Stacey Champion, got so infuriated she has filed a motion demanding a rehearing on the Commission approved 2017 APS rate increase hearing.
Arizona Commissioner Andy Tobin Texted APS Lobbyists Frequently, Including About Open Rate Case
Arizona Corporation Commissioner Andy Tobin exchanged text messages throughout 2018 with lobbyists from Arizona Public Service, often to complain about negative media coverage of APS’ rate increase requests before the Commission.
What will happen with the APS rate-hike challenge? Here are 5 things to know
The hearings are over. Now it's time for a judge and state utility regulators to decide if a $95 million rate hike approved last year for the state's biggest electric company needs reconsideration or even elimination.