Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is asking the Arizona Corporation Commission -- the elected body that is supposed to ensure that our utility rates are "just and reasonable" -- for a 14% rate Increase. If approved, this will mean a median cost increase of about $16/month or $196 per year for most residential customers.
People are already struggling to pay their electric bills and this will make it even harder for working families and those with low and fixed incomes to pay their bills. Increasing housing and grocery costs are already burdening families, a 14% electric rate hike (well beyond inflation) will add to that burden.
TEP’s parent company, Fortis, is doing quite well, to say the least, and netted more than $1.7 billion in 2025 across its portfolio of utilities. These rate hikes will keep them flush with cash on the backs of customers.
In addition to this big rate hike, TEP is also proposing to adopt "formula rates," which would allow the utility to fast-track rate increases every year without a rate case and with very limited oversight by the ACC, tying the hands of the entity that is supposed to protect ratepayers and hold monopoly utilities accountable.
As TEP is proposing these rate increases, it is also continuing to invest in dirty fossil fuels and planning to burn gas at its Springerville power plant rather than retire those coal units, and it is seeking to accommodate big load customers like data centers and mines that will surely result in even higher rates going forward..
The ACC is supposed to ensure that rates are just and reasonable, hold utilities accountable, and help protect ratepayers like us. If the Commission approves another significant rate increase, and allows TEP to increase rates on a fast track every year going forward, our electricity bills will be even less affordable, and TEP will have fewer incentives to operate cost-effectively, increasing the risk of out-of-control spending on big, expensive projects like methane gas power plants.
Take Action! Use the form at right to tell the Arizona Corporation Commission to reject this rate hike as well as the mechanism for allowing annual rate increases with little accountability. Add a personal comment to make your message more impactful!
