by Jonathan Eberle | Oct 2, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Two Arizona lawmakers are raising concerns over what they describe as a failure by the Governor’s Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO) to assist local families facing steep water and sewer rate hikes.
Representatives Teresa Martinez and Chris Lopez, both Republicans representing Legislative District 16, sent a letter to RUCO Director Cynthia Zwick questioning the agency’s handling of constituent requests tied to two pending Picacho Water & Sewer Company rate cases. The utility, which is foreign-owned, has sought increases that residents say are excessive and unfair.
According to the lawmakers, multiple constituents reached out to RUCO for support but received delayed responses—or, in some cases, no intervention at all.
“RUCO exists to stand up for utility consumers, not ignore them,” Rep. Martinez said. “Our constituents are understandably frustrated. They’re facing steep hikes from a foreign-owned utility, and when they turned to the Governor’s office for help, they got silence and a refusal. They deserve better.”
The letter from Martinez and Lopez asks RUCO to provide detailed information about how the office logs and tracks consumer complaints, its response timelines, and who within the agency handled calls regarding the Picacho cases. It specifically requests the dates those calls were received and when responses were issued
Rep. Lopez emphasized the need for accountability: “We’re pressing for answers because these families deserve accountability. Ratepayers shouldn’t be left in the dark when they turn to the very office meant to advocate for them.”
The lawmakers, joined by Senator T.J. Shope of the same district, also requested an in-person meeting with RUCO to review its consumer response practices.
The dispute centers on Docket Nos. W-03528A-25-0056 and SW-03709A-25-0057, in which Picacho Water & Sewer Company has asked regulators to approve rate increases. Residents have argued the proposals would impose unfair financial burdens, particularly given the utility’s ownership outside the United States.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Jonathan Eberle | Apr 2, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed SB1119, a piece of bipartisan legislation aimed at prioritizing affordable and reliable utility services for Arizonans. The bill, sponsored by Senator Tim Dunn (R-LD25), sought to direct the Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO) to focus exclusively on minimizing utility rates rather than considering environmental policies that could contribute to higher costs.
In a press release following the veto, Senator Dunn criticized the decision, arguing that it would negatively impact consumers already struggling with rising costs. “SB 1119 would have required the Residential Utility Consumer Office to focus its efforts on fighting for the safest and most reliable utility service achievable at the lowest retail rate possible, instead of prioritizing any costly radical environmentalist agendas,” Dunn stated. He went on to say that the veto was “short-sighted” and would ultimately burden Arizona residents.
Utility costs have been a growing concern for Arizona residents, particularly in the wake of inflation and increased energy demand. The state’s energy policies have often been a point of contention, with debates centering around balancing affordability with sustainability. RUCO, an independent agency that represents residential utility customers, currently considers multiple factors when making policy recommendations.
Supporters of SB 1119 argued that the bill would have strengthened consumer protections by ensuring that RUCO prioritized affordability above all else. The veto is expected to spark further discussions among lawmakers and stakeholders on how to bring more affordable utility rates to Arizonans. As the state continues to grapple with rising utility costs, future legislative efforts may seek to address the concerns raised by both proponents and critics of SB 1119.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Dec 7, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club released a statement on Wednesday severely criticizing the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). The statement came after the ACC, which is charged with protecting Arizonans from a non-competitive energy industry, voted to abdicate its duty by allowing formulaic rates that increase automatically year over year, as opposed to every increase being subject to public scrutiny and requiring approval.
The vote on Tuesday was carried 3-2 with commissioners Anna Tovar and Lea Márquez Peterson dissenting. According to the ACC, its policy statement “allows regulated utilities to propose formula rates in future rate cases. Under this approach, the ACC reviews and accepts as the rate a formula for calculating the utility’s cost of service, including clear definitions of inputs to that formula and a process for updating rates every year as the utility’s costs change.”
The commission claimed, “Formula rates will still be monitored closely to ensure that the utility does not over-earn relative to the cost of service for providing service (plus a reasonable return on invested capital), while continuing to provide service safely and reliably.”
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club responded in a statement saying:
“Following contentious double digit rate hikes being approved and ESG Resource Plans committed to going ‘Net Zero’ by 2050 being rubber stamped, the Commission has rushed through approving new rules masquerading as a mere ‘policy statement’ that could insulate utilities and the Commission from having to face ratepayers in future rate cases. The ‘policy statement’ would depart from traditional rate making and pursue ‘formula based rates’ offloading risk from investors to ratepayers and baking in automatic rate increases with little transparency or opportunity for ratepayer engagement.
“The only support for this ‘policy statement’ came from the utilities themselves. The Commission is charged to protect ratepayers by regulating the utilities, not the other way around. The Commission should pump the brakes, not rush through major rulemaking decisions in a lame duck session.
“The Arizona Free Enterprise Club is committed to protecting ratepayers, ensuring affordable and reliable energy in Arizona. We will continue to work to ensure utilities will not be able to force their captive ratepayers to foot the bill, especially through automatic rate hikes, for their costly goal to go ‘Net Zero’ by 2050 by shuttering reliable sources of energy generation to build out expensive and unreliable wind, solar, and battery storage projects.”
Attorney Dan Pozesfsky of Arizona’s Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO), expressed a similar view according to 12News saying, “Trying to implement formula rates through a policy statement rather than through rules is inappropriate, illegal and in this case denies due process.”
The outlet reported that the ACC, ignoring its own plans for the vote, rushed to schedule it noting that in a previous meeting Commission Chairman Jim O’Connor had told stakeholders, “Give us feedback. Bring us guardrails.” He added, “I eagerly look forward to that kind of input at our next workshop.” However, no workshop occurred and no published legal opinions were issued.
Diane Brown of the nonprofit Arizona PIRG Education Fund stressed that the vote was conducted with critical questions about the scheme remaining unanswered. She said, “This is precisely to me why it was so important to have the legal memo that this Commission said they would get. While there are statements that there will be increased transparency, I’m not seeing evidence of that. It is troubling to me that we haven’t heard from the ALJ (administrative law judge). We have not heard from Staff.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
