TEP Plans 14% Rate Increase. Learn More at a Community Town Hall

TEP Rate Increase Town Hall
Thursday, Nov. 13, 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
First Christian Church
740 E. Speedway Blvd. at Euclid Ave.
RSVP TucsonRates.eventbrite.com
Or call 602.832.7570

Consumer and social justice organizations will be on hand this Thursday, Nov. 13, at a town hall event in Tucson to go over the fine points of TEP’s pending 13.7% rate increase. If approved, the average ratepayer will fork over nearly $20 more a month. The last rate increase was a 10% hike in 2023.

Sponsors and speakers at the town hall include nonprofit organizations that intervene on behalf of consumers and the environment at Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) meetings, work on energy solutions with the governor’s office, and offer training, education, and clean energy advocacy for all Arizonans.

Refreshments and resources for lowering your utility bill will be available.

The 90-minute meeting will include comments by organizers Cynthia Zwick, director of the State’s Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO); Diane E. Brown, executive director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG) Education Fund, and Kelly McGowan, executive director of the statewide anti-poverty nonprofit Wildfire.

After the presentation, members of the public are invited to join the conversation with comments, questions, and concerns about the rate increase and energy-related issues that are already impacting residents of Pima County, including data centers and TEP’s plans for renewable energy development.

Brown, with ArizonaPIRG, notes that public input is invaluable to her and the other organizations as they monitor the activities of the state’s utilities. “As intervenors in the TEP rate case, we are particularly interested in hearing reactions to what TEP is proposing” for advocacy needs going forward.

In its rate increase announcement, TEP pointed to recouping costs of its $900 million investments over five years in grid upgrades; $350 million for the new Roadrunner Reserve renewable battery storage system; and “the impact of inflation on the cost of maintaining TEP’s top-tier reliability in the face of more extreme weather.”

“Recent rate case proposals in Arizona have included factors such as high inflation and interest rates, infrastructure improvements and growth in energy usage,” said Zwick. “Ultimately, the elected members of the Arizona Corporation Commission will need to decide how much of what TEP is proposing to recover from customers is ‘just and reasonable’.”

To learn more about the Arizona Corporation Commission’s rate making process: https://ruco.az.gov/about/rate-making-process

To find tips to save energy and save money: www.savingenergytips.org

To find energy assistance in Pima County: https://wildfireaz.org/find-help/energy-assistance/

“Whether someone needs help or knows of someone who does, it is important that they are aware of assistance available to qualified households to help pay their utility bills,” said McGowan. “We are interested in hearing the experiences of TEP customers and ideas to make bills more affordable.”