ARIZONA NEWS
Salt River Project increases upcoming rate hike to around $12 monthly
Apr 7, 2023, 4:25 AM
(Salt River Project Photo)
(Salt River Project Photo)
PHOENIX – Salt River Project Board of Directors voted last week to double a rate hike that was previously set to go into effect later this year.
As a result, the utility’s residential customers will pay on average about 8% more, or nearly $12 per month, starting Nov. 1.
“The increase is on the kilowatt hours, so the more they use, the more of an increase they would have,” Brandon Shoemaker, a manager in SRP’s corporate pricing department, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.
“Our average residential customer uses less than 1,200 kilowatt hours a month, so that’s kind of the middle point.”
The newly approved change is for the Fuel and Purchased Power Adjustment Mechanism (FPPAM) rate, which covers the costs of fuel, including natural gas, and purchased power agreements.
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“These costs are passed through to customers without any markup on them, so what we pay, we just pass that through to customers,” Shoemaker said.
SRP assesses the FPPAM rate regularly, Shoemaker said.
“Changes in the price of our fuel and purchase power really depend on the cost of fuel and energy, and because they’re increasing now, we’re increasing these rates,” he said. “And as these costs go down, we also reduce rates there.”
Last year, the SRP board approved two increases, each that would raise monthly bills by an average of $5.88. The first bump went into effect in November 2022, and the second was set for November of this year.
But as costs continued to rise over the past year, SRP determined the 2023 average increase would instead be $11.88.
“It is our goal to keep prices low,” Shoemaker said. “So, even after this increase goes into effect this coming November, SRP customers will be paying some of the lowest power prices in the West.”
SRP is a not-for-profit organization that provides power and water for about 2 million people in central Arizona.
“We are here for our customers, so we encourage them to call us or visit us online and see how we can help,” Shoemaker said.
“Our customer service representatives stand ready to help any way we can.”
SRP’s customer service phone numbers are 602-236-8888 for English and 602-236-1111 for Spanish.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Tasler contributed to this report.
