Abhay (2019)

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Lacy Tortelli

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:40:41 PM8/3/24

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Inexplicably, the disconnection rules did not address summer heat or offer very many consumer protections until 2019. That glaring omission gave utilities the green light to make up their own rules, with APS cutting power more than 110,000 times for nonpayment in 2018.

It took another two years of back and forth, but the commission has finally advanced rules for the formal rulemaking process. The draft rules, which have been adopted by the commission but not finalized, strengthen protections, expand affordability and ensure flexibility for the most vulnerable, but they must become permanent to retain those gains.

The draft rules set a temperature limit of 95 degrees Fahrenheit for disconnections as a new option for electric utilities. The other option would be to set the shutoff moratorium from June 1 through Oct.15.

Arizona is ranked the 10th worst state for residential electricity burden. High rates make low-income households several times more susceptible to shutoffs because a sizable portion of their household income goes toward energy costs.

Unfortunately, the commission can address rates only in a formal rate case. In the pending APS rate case, commission staff has recommended a modest $55 million rate decrease. The Corporation Commission must go far beyond that to make a meaningful dent in the high electricity rates relative to the household incomes in Arizona.

Chairwoman Lea Mrquez Peterson and Commissioners Sandra Kennedy and Anna Tovar must be commended for taking a major first step toward pulling the plug on dangerous disconnection rules. But the true benefits will endure only if the commission makes them permanent.

Abhay Padgaonkar is a management consultant based in Phoenix and consumer advocate who has argued for stronger consumer protections in the utility disconnection rules. Reach him at abhay.pa...@gmail.com.