Commissioner Kevin Thompson announced on April 8 that the Arizona Corporation Commission has approved a temporary bill credit for UNS Electric customers. The credit, which amounts to approximately $18.50 per month for customers with average usage of 884 kilowatt-hours, will be in effect from May 1 through December 31, covering the summer months when electricity bills are typically highest.
The decision is intended to provide relief to ratepayers during peak energy usage periods. The bill credit results from an adjustment to the Purchased Power and Fuel Adjustment Clause Credit (PPFAC), a mechanism utilities use to recover costs associated with purchasing fuel for power generation. Utilities do not earn profits on expenses covered by the PPFAC.
“The Commission had to make a tough vote in 2023 to pay down significant fuel cost debt that had been allowed to build as a result of circumstances outside the utilities’ control,” said Commissioner Thompson. “As a result of the temporary surcharge, UNS was able to rapidly pay down the debt and save ratepayers money in the long run. Asking ratepayers to pay more in their monthly bills to pay down costs is never an easy task, but this solution removes the massive debt hanging over the heads of the ratepayers and provides additional bill relief when customers need it most.”
UNS Electric began experiencing an under-collection within its PPFAC bank balance starting in October 2021, which grew to $48 million due largely to spikes in natural gas prices related to global events such as the COVID pandemic, extreme weather like winter storm Uri, and geopolitical tensions including the war in Ukraine. In May 2023, commissioners approved a temporary increase in surcharges so that UNS could aggressively reduce this deficit and limit interest charges passed on to consumers.
After implementing these measures, UNS eliminated its under-collected balance by December 2025 and removed the surcharge at that time—resulting in an average reduction of about $20 per month for residential customers’ bills last year. Following further adjustments earlier this year—including adoption of this new temporary credit—a typical residential customer will see about $38 less per month on their summer electric bills compared with last summer.
Customers seeking more information are encouraged to contact Commissioner Thompson’s office at Thompson-Web@azcc.gov.
