PHOENIX — State lawmakers are calling on the Arizona Corporation Commission to consider taking action to help Mohave County residents burdened by higher utility bills.
Several customers of UniSource Energy in Kingman and Lake Havasu have been sending letters to the commission over the last few weeks about how their higher electric bills were putting a strain on local businesses and the elderly population.
"The electricity rate increases over the last couple of years in Lake Havasu are absolutely horrendous," one customer told the commission. "Many people are having to choose to pay their electric bills versus buying food."
Another customer told the commission they've had to seek out getting a part-time job just to pay off their higher electric bill.
Commissioner Lea Márquez-Peterson attempted to take action by asking for the January decision in the UniSource rate case be placed on a future agenda to possibly modify the rate design.
A representative for the utility provider told the commission that revisiting or redesigning the electric rates would be "unnecessary." UniSource is citing the rising temperatures in Mohave County as a reason for the bigger bills and claimed that its "budget billing" program could provide some relief to consumers.
Commission Chairman Jim O'Connor recently rejected Márquez-Peterson's request to reconsider the rate case, claiming that it could have "unintended consequences."
"To grant your request would call into question the due deliberation we undergo as a Commission in hearing rate cases," the chairman wrote in a letter to Márquez-Peterson this week, "it would upend the hard work we have made to stabilize our regulatory environment."
But now state representatives in the Mohave County area are asking the commission to address the issue.
In a letter sent Friday, the Republican lawmakers representing District 30 urged Chairman O'Connor to reconsider his decision so that the commission can discuss seasonal electricity rates.
"While we appreciate the Commission's effort to stabilize the regulatory environment in Arizona, we also believe the Commission must consider the impacts to residents who are struggling under the new rates including those who are on fixed incomes and having to choose between essential expenses," the letter stated.
