On Wednesday, lawmakers questioned the president of Rocky Mountain Power about the energy company’s proposed 30% rate increase announced in July.
“There is no doubt that there is incredible upward pressure on rates,” RMP President Dick Garlish said at the Interim Committee on Public Utilities, Energy and Technology meeting in the Capitol. “As a company, we are trying to find the balance to make sure we recoup the costs to be able to provide the essential services because electricity is the backbone of our quality of life and our engine of economic development because it is reliable and affordable.”
Rocky Mountain Power supplies energy to Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Its sister company, Pacific Power, provides energy services to Oregon, Washington and California. As states like California and Oregon have struggled with wildfire damage in recent months, Republican Rep. Carl Albrecht of Richfield asked Garlish if Utah’s rate increases would be used to fund natural disasters in other states.
“I can assure you that there are no judgments, liabilities or settlements involved in this current case,” but added that the rise in insurance costs over the past five years “is driving up insurance premiums, the availability of coverage and premiums for all utilities and cooperatives.” But “to say our insurance premiums went up because we had a fire in Oregon is not accurate,” he said.
Utahns are concerned about the increased rate
Since announcing RMP’s proposed rate increase, Republican Rep. Judy Weeks Rohner of West Valley says she has received calls from numerous people in her district and surrounding areas accusing the utility of “temporarily” cutting off their power.
“Their rate increase has left people worried about their bills, especially in my area. I don’t know about the others, but in my area they’re calling,” she added.
Garlish replied: “We are 1000% not going to cut people’s power because prices are going up.”
He added: “We’re not trying to penalise our customers in any way. And as far as the impact on tariffs, you know, we understand that. None of us enjoy justifying tariffs and charging money, particularly when we live in an environment where costs are generally rising and affecting different people in different ways. We don’t take that lightly, but we need to get back some of the costs that we spend on providing the service in order to be able to continue.”
If approved by the Public Service Commission, the first phase of the increase would take effect on February 23, 2025. For Utah customers, this would result in a total increase of 1.32% per kilowatt hour, making the price 9.50 cents per kilowatt hour. The second phase would increase the price to 10.49 cents per kilowatt hour by January 1, 2026.
The last topic discussed in the legislature on Wednesday was the possibility of Rocky Mountain Power splitting off from PacifiCorp, which Albrecht said would make sense for Utah from a political perspective.
“The interest in restructuring and what that might look like has become increasingly intense because of all of these factors, the upward price pressures and the political changes,” Garlish said, adding that it would take about 20 months to resolve all the tangles. Albrecht asked Rocky Mountain Power to submit a report in November on what a separation from PacifiCorp would entail.
“We can produce a report that really looks at what we have today, what the benefits and challenges are, and what an alternative might be,” Garlish added.
