The Arkansas Public Service Commission released an order Friday approving an electricity rate hike for Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) that will raise rates on residents across Northwest Arkansas.
SWEPCO’s increase aims to the boost the company’s revenue by $85 million – which equals a bill increase of about $24 a month on average residential customers – to recoup costs for out of state wind farms, infrastructure upgrades, and most controversially, upgrades to the old Flint Creek coal plant near Gentry. The upgrades could keep Flint Creek on the grid and burning coal until 2038.
Protesters and NWA residents rallied against the proposed rate increase at a December hearing in Springdale. Today, one of those protesters– Cameron Rackley– wrote an opinion piece in the Arkansas Times urging the Arkansas Public Service Commission to reject the rate increase proposal. The company has over 120,000 customers in Arkansas.
“SWEPCO customers in Arkansas will soon feel the pain of even higher electric bills because of the Arkansas PSC’s decision. While it’s nice that the commissioners recognized the public’s outrage at SWEPCO’s rate request, nice doesn’t pay the bills,” Rackley, an organizer with the Sierra Club, said in a press release. “Ultimately it’s the decision that impacts our lives, not the rhetoric. Arkansans are paying attention, and we look forward to holding SWEPCO and the PSC accountable for planning to replace the expensive, polluting Flint Creek coal plant with cheaper, cleaner renewables that will allow our Natural State to thrive.”
Most objectors to the rate increase had concerns with raising residential rates so SWEPCO could recoup costs for an old coal plant that critics say is uneconomical and contributes to air pollution and climate change.
As Rackley noted, in the Public Service Commission’s order, the commissioners recognized that the public response to the rate increase was overwhelmingly negative. As part of the commission’s decision, SWEPCO will also have to release a study modeling the impacts of retiring Flint Creek early in 2030 and 2035.
SWEPCO also committed to working on the longstanding NWA load pocket issue, and reporting on progress. A load pocket is an area where meeting electricity demand is a struggle. s to meet electricity demand.
In a statement to the Arkansas Times, SWEPCO praised the decision by the commission and said the decision would allow the company to continue serving its customers with reliable power. The company noted that rates will still be about 20% below the national average, and said it will offer flexible payment options and energy efficiency programs to reduce costs on customers.
