LEGAL NOTICE
On February 10, 2023, The Empire District Electric Company (the “Company”) filed with the Arkansas Public Service Commission (“Commission”) an application for a change in the rates to be charged to all classes of its customers. The request is based on a historic test year ending March 31, 2022, with known and measurable changes through March 31, 2023, and seeks to cover increases in operating expenses and return on investment in additional facilities constructed to service customers since the Company’s last general rate adjustment. The total requested base revenue increase being sought by the Company is $7.3M, and the total retail sale revenues being requested after incorporating the projected Wind fuel cost savings in the Energy Cost Recovery Rider (“ECR”), and the proposed eliminations of the Alternative Generation Environmental Recovery Rider (“GER”), Riverton Rider, and Tax Adjustment (“TA”) Rider is shown below. The Company is also proposing a new System Safety and Reliability Rider (“SSRR”) to recover $2.5M in costs for a new Gentry Substation that is expected to be completed in 2024. To help ease the rate request impact to customers, the Company has proposed an alternative phase-in rate plan to mitigate the increase over a four-year period. Under this phase-in, an average residential customer using 1,000 kWh, would see a 10.1% increase to their bill for each of the four years of the phase-in. If the Commission does not approve the Company’s proposed alternative phase-in rate plan the amount of the total bill rate change for each rate class of customer is as follows:
The amounts and percentages shown above and other rates and charges may change or be affected by a final order of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Below are the present and proposed Customer Charges and Volumetric Charges for each rate class of service. The “Present Rate” column shows the rates that will be charged in the month before the Commission approves final rates and the “Proposed Rate” column shows the rates which will be charged if the requested increase is granted. As part of the Company’s proposed request mentioned above, three Riders currently being paid for by customers will be rolled into the new base rates and will no longer appear as individual line items on customer bills: the Riverton Rider, the GER Rider, and the TA Rider. The new base rates shown below will include the costs from these Riders, which are not new to customers and are already being included in customers’ current bills.
Upon request, the Company will furnish any further information a customer desires concerning the percentage increase being sought for any rate schedule. In addition, the Company will, upon request, provide to any customer an estimate of the calculated average monthly dollar amount by which the proposed rates will increase the customer’s electric utility bill. Requests can be made at www.libertyenergyandwater.com or by calling 1-800-206-2300.
The Public Service Commission has assigned Docket No. 22-085-U to this application and has suspended the new rates pending completion of a hearing on the application. The Commission has ten (10) months in which to issue its Order. The new rates are not expected to become effective until December 2023. The Commission rules provide procedures for interested persons to intervene as a party, make limited appearances or submit public comments in writing or orally at the hearing and further information may be obtained by writing or calling the Secretary of the Public Service Commission. The Secretary’s name, Commission address and telephone number is: Ms. Jennifer Ivory, Arkansas Public Service Commission, Jennifer.Ivory@arkansas.gov, 1000 Center Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201; Telephone Number: 501-682-5782. The Commission’s website can be found at www.arkansas.gov/psc.
The Arkansas Public Service Commission has not yet established a procedural schedule or hearing dates for this matter. Interested persons may contact the Public Service Commission in order to obtain further information regarding procedural schedules in the near future.