Four more utilities propose rate cuts
Four investor-owned utilities that missed a Monday deadline to request a rate change are now proposing rate drops that range from 6.2 percent a month to about 33 cents a month.
The utilities suggested the rate reductions in filings made with the Arkansas Public Service Commission.
The utilities’ plans to lower rates are the result of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in December, that reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.
On Jan. 11, Gov. Asa Hutchinson asked the commission to require utilities to pass on benefits of the reduction in the federal corporate tax rate to Arkansas ratepayers “as expeditiously as possible.”
If corrections are not needed, the commission should approve the plans in about 30 days, said Donna Gray, executive director of the commission’s general staff. The utilities have until December 2019 to pass the savings on to customers.
Empire District Electric Co., which serves about 4,400 customers in rural Northwest Arkansas, proposed to lower its rates by 6.2 percent a month. That means that a customer with a monthly bill of $100 will see it drop to $93.80 a month, beginning Oct. 1.
Arkansas Oklahoma Gas, which has about 45,000 customers in the Fort Smith area, proposed to lower its residential customer’s monthly bill by 2.3 percent. So a customer with a $100 monthly bill will see it fall to $97.70 a month, beginning on Oct. 1.
Liberty Utilities, which is the water utility in Pine Bluff, intends to lower its monthly bill by 0.8 percent, or 33 cents, a month.
Oklahoma Gas and Electric,
which has about 66,000 customers in the Fort Smith area, filed its report on Thursday but did not include the percentage changes it proposed for its residential customers.
Entergy Arkansas said in March that it would reduce its customers’ bills by up to $466 million. That reduction began with April bills. The average monthly reduction in bills was 18.4 percent. That means that a customer with a monthly electric bill of $100 has seen the bill drop to about $81.60.
The lower rates will continue until December 2019. The total savings for the 21 months for an average residential customer would be about $386.40.
Of all the rebate plans, Entergy’s was the largest by far.
After consulting with the commission staff, the attorney general’s office and other stakeholders, Entergy proposed, and the commission approved, refunding during 2018 the full portion of the $466 million credit for its large commercial customers, said Alison Melson, spokesman for Entergy.
Entergy realized “that in January 2019 there would be a bump in rates when the credit rolls off the bill,” Melson said.
In contrast, Entergy “proposed to spread out [the credits for] residential customers over a longer period of time [so] customers [could] see a noticeable difference in their monthly bills [about $20 a month],” Melson said. “That also would not be too burdensome when the credit rolls off the bill.”
The three other utilities that met Monday’s deadline were Houston-based CenterPoint Energy, the state’s largest natural gas utility with 400,000 customers; Southwestern Electric Power Co., which has about 120,000 customers in western Arkansas; and Black Hills Energy, with about 165,000 customers in northern Arkansas.
CenterPoint Energy proposed to reduce its rates by $19.2 million, or 9.5 percent, on bills beginning in October and 7.3 percent in January and February. For a customer with a bill of $100, it would fall to $90.50 beginning in October and $92.70 beginning in January.
Southwestern Electric Power Co. is seeking a 10.2 percent rate reduction beginning on Sept. 27. That would reduce a typical $100 monthly bill to $89.80.
Black Hills seeks a 5.97 percent rate reduction from Oct. 15 to May 15. That would lower a $100 monthly bill to $94.03 a month.