On June 12, 2025, APS, Arizona’s largest electricity provider, is requesting a 14% rate hike to recover costs from investments in grid reliability, resilience, system upgrades (e.g., substations, wildfire prevention tech, battery storage), power plant efficiencies and cybersecurity. The increase in charges would add roughly $20 per month to a typical residential bill.
The Arizona Corporation Commission must approve any hike, and is currently contemplating the request. APS received a rate hike of 8% in 2022. This would be its fourth rate hike in a decade.
However, over two dozen parties, including Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, oppose the increase. “These utilities are greedy,” she said during a town hall. “I believe that this is nothing more than a case of blatant corporate greed, especially when you consider just how much they have gotten in rate increases in the past and what they’re asking for now.”
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) filed an official response objecting to the rate hike, asserting that it would subsidize costly green energy initiatives and result in the closure of a key coal plant. AFEC is the only organization that has been granted access to participate in the proceedings, making it the only organization representing ratepayers who oppose the rate hike.
Read the rest of the article