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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Higher electricity rates kicked in this week for customers of Rocky Mountain Power Co.
State regulators this month approved a two-step, $115 million rate increase, with $30 million deferred until June 1.
A typical residential customer using 700 kilowatts a month will pay $688 a year by next summer, a 10 percent increase compared to rates that were in place before Dec. 11, according to the Utah Public Service Commission.
Separately, a monthly mandatory customer charge is rising to $2 from 98 cents. Rocky Mountain Power had asked for $3.40 a month.
The commission, however, said that would be inconsistent with its principle of gradually raising rates and other charges.
"We produced quite a bit of testimony that it would not (adversely) affect low-income customers," utility spokesman David Eskelsen said Friday.
Rocky Mountain Power and the Utah Committee of Consumer Services, a watchdog group that represents low-income residents, retirees and small businesses, agreed last summer to a $115 million annual rate increase.
The task for regulators was how to set the prices.
Under the new rate structure, customers will pay 7.53 cents per kilowatt hour during winter months, and 7.53 cents to 10.07 cents per kilowatt hour in summer when electricity is at peak demand to run air conditioners.
Eskelsen said the overall rate case was justified by the rising costs of getting thousands of new customers plugged into power in Utah.
"We're connecting somewhere between 23,000 and 28,000 new customers every year. That's like bringing on a new Sandy," he said, referring to the Salt Lake City suburb.
Rocky Mountain Power, formerly known as Utah Power, is owned by PacifiCorp, based in Portland, Ore.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
