SALT LAKE CITY — During the Utah Legislature’s special session on Wednesday, an issue that could impact your budget was discussed. Several state lawmakers listened to Rocky Mountain Power officials explain why they are asking for a rate increase of just over 30%.
If Rocky Mountain Power’s application is approved, you could actually pay a significantly higher amount on your electricity bill.
“None of us enjoy having to apply for money when costs are just going up across the board and it’s affecting different people in different ways,” said Dick Garlish, president of Rocky Mountain Power.
Garlish made that point Wednesday at a meeting before Utah’s Interim Committee on Public Utilities, Energy and Technology. A company spokesman cited inflation as one of the reasons for the requested rate increase.
“Part of this driver is net electricity costs, which include fuel and system costs that are subject to inflationary pressures,” said Tiffany Erickson, communications director for Rocky Mountain Power.
That reason isn’t popular with some customers, who told KSL TV on Wednesday their bills are already too high. Brett Bawden of West Jordan showed his bill for this month totaled $364.
“It always rises in the summer, but I’ve never seen it rise this much,” Bawden said.
It forces his family to make unexpected cuts.
“This destroys your budget, this is not something that is in your budget,” Bawden said.
Some members of Wednesday’s committee would rather see Rocky Mountain Power make budget cuts than pass the costs on to even more customers.
“I understand that, I’ve been in the utility industry. Rocky Mountain is being hit by inflationary factors on all sides: coal costs, costs of lines, poles and so on, but they have to learn to operate efficiently in this new generation,” said Rep. Carl R. Albrecht (R, District 70).
If approved, Rocky Mountain Power expects an average cost increase of $24 per month over two phases beginning in January.
So what happens from here?
The Utah Public Service Commission will either approve or deny the rate increase. The process typically takes between six and eight months.
