Summit Utilities filed a rate-increase request with the Arkansas Public Service Commission last Thursday, proposing a new rate that, if approved, would increase the monthly bill for the state’s typical residential customer by 29.4%.
Overall, Summit requested a $104.7 million base-rate increase. In an email to customers, Summit Senior Vice President Fred Kirkwood explained that the need for the increase was “largely driven by inflation, economic conditions, and capital investments in our system.”
Summit purchased the Arkansas and Oklahoma portions of CenterPoint Energy’s distribution in January 2022, and the company now serves more than 410,000 customers in Arkansas. According to Kirkwood, the utility’s current rates “have been in place since our acquisition in 2022, and as with most companies across Arkansas, we have experienced rising costs.” Kirkwood says that increasing rates will allow Summit to make up for those increased costs as well as allowing them to provide:
- Efficient response times to customer service calls to answer questions quickly and thoroughly;
- 24-hour, seven days per week, 365 days per year, emergency dispatch and response;
- Investments in new, smart technologies to monitor, inspect, and maintain the integrity of the pipeline system; and
- A local, well-staffed, and well-trained customer service and operations team that can support customers’ accounts and gas service needs.
Summit’s request for a rate increase comes after a tumultuous first two years of operations in Arkansas. In 2023 alone, Summit was forced to answer for increased bills that some customers received, was sued in a class-action lawsuit related to billing errors, and was forced to pause collection efforts during an investigation after the Arkansas Attorney General intervened. The Public Service Commission raised eyebrows with a ruling in August that Summit’s increased bills were not improper.
The Public Service Commission’s review of the requested rate increase should take around 10 months, according to Summit, and will be “very thorough.” The proposed increase will not have any impact on customers’ bills unless and until approved by the commission. If approved, Kirkwood says, “a typical residential customer using 45 [hundred cubic feet] per month will experience a total monthly bill increase of $18.48.”