skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Consumer Group: APS Rate Request Too High

play audio
Play

Thursday, June 2, 2016   

PHOENIX - Consumer advocates are calling on Arizona regulatory officials to deny Arizona Public Service's request for an electric rate increase, and significant changes in how residential bills are calculated. The power company, which serves more than one million customers in Arizona, wants an almost six percent rate increase, which APS says would increase the average residential electric bill by more than $11 a month.

Diane Brown, executive director for the Arizona Public Interest Research Group said another proposed change would hit ratepayers with a bigger bill before they even flip the light switch.

"Under the proposal, many APS ratepayers could be whacked with a $24 basic service charge and no ability to fight back, even by reducing the amount of electricity they use," she said.

APS officials say the increased rates, which will bring an additional $177 million in annual revenues, are needed to help pay for a $3.6 billion upgrade to its power grid. APS also said it needs the money to increase its assistance to low-income customers, modernize its generating plants and meet federal environmental standards.

Brown said APS also is proposing a shift to demand-based rates for consumers, which adjusts monthly bills based on the customer's peak power use, meaning a single spike could cause a much higher monthly bill. Traditionally, demand-based rates usually are charged only to commercial customers.

"Just to kind of put it in real-person perspective, APS's proposed demand charge doesn't seem to take into account a single mom who is working two jobs or the senior citizen who may be vacationing," she said.

Hearings before the Arizona Corporation Commission could take up to a year to complete, meaning any new rates would not go into effect until July 2017. APS, owned by Pinnacle West Capital, uses gas, coal and nuclear power plants, giving the company about 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021