Utah Power Wants Rate Hike -- Now

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Utah Power Wants Rate Hike -- Now Wednesday, January 31, 2001 BY STEVEN OBERBECK THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Utah Power is rushing the Public Service Commission into raising the electricity bills of the utility's 640,000 customers to help it deal with skyrocketing energy costs.

The utility, a subsidiary of Scottish Power's Pacificorp, went before the Utah Public Service Commission (PSC) on Tuesday asking permission to immediately raise its rates $142 million. The hearing will continue today.

The company filed for the massive rate increase on Jan. 12. If approved, the typical Utah Power customer's bill will go up nearly $100 a year. Typically, it takes months of gathering documents, taking statements and collecting evidence before the company, the PSC and other state regulators are ready to hold a rate hearing. But Utah Power told PSC commissioners it needs relief now. The company said it continues to suffer under the burden of buying electricity on the spot market to supply its Utah customers. It asked permission to raise its rates on an interim basis. If Utah Power's interim request is approved, the hike will appear on consumer bills almost immediately, said Utah Power's spokesman Dave Eskelsen. The company wants the rate increase to be retroactive to Jan. 22. Matthew Wright, vice president of regulation for Pacificorp, told the PSC the company's $142 million increase is conservative. Although Utah Power generates almost all its electricity for Utah, the company occasionally needs to buy even more to meet peak demand in the state, generally during the evening hours. And electricity costs are soaring throughout the West. Almost $95 million of the $142 million request comes as a result of the company going onto the spot market to buy the extra power it needs to meet customer demand, Eskelsen said.

Standing in the way of the massive interim rate hike is the Committee of Consumer Services, which speaks for consumers and small business owners in utility rate cases, and a handful of attorneys representing other groups of the company's customers such as large industrial users of electricity.

The Committee of Consumer Services plans to urge the PSC today to approve a temporary rate increase for the utility --but of only $23 million to $53 million, said the group's administrative secretary Roger Ball.

The committee believes the more conservative increase will avoid a refund problem should regulators eventually determine the company is not entitled to the full $142 million rate increase.

http://www.sltrib.com/01312001/business/67367.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 31, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ