The Arkansas Public Service Commission has rejected rate changes for six of the state’s electric cooperatives.
The three-member commission, which regulates public utilities, found that the cooperatives didn’t meet the burden of proving the tariffs, or pricing structures, were in the public interest.
The Arkansas Advanced Energy Association had argued against the tariffs, saying they would have placed “unjustified and costly requirements” on Arkansans looking to connect customer-owned generation sources to the electric grid.
The cooperatives who made the request are Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative of Texarkana; Woodruff Electric Cooperative of Forrest City; Clay County Electric Cooperative of Corning; Rich Mountain Electric Cooperative of Mena; South Central Electric Cooperative of Arkadelphia and Petit Jean Electric Cooperative of Clinton.
The PSC decision found that each cooperative “failed to provide evidence to meet its burden of proof that the terms of the proposed tariff are in the public interest. Ultimately, the burden of persuasion lies with the filing utility, and here, that burden was not met,” the commissioners wrote.
The AAEA testified that the utilities’ proposals, including requiring commercial liability insurance policies of up to $10 million, “would have placed undue financial and administrative burdens” on customers.
“These proposals would have increased costs across the board for ratepayers without providing meaningful justification,” AAEA Executive Director Lauren Waldrip said in testimony before the Commission. “The cooperatives could not demonstrate that these burdens would enhance safety or reliability — they would have simply made it harder and more expensive for customers to manage their energy use.”
Arkansas Business reached out to the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas for comment, but drew no immediate response.
Four of the six cooperatives involved in the tariff filings— Petit Jean, Rich Mountain, South Central and Southwest Arkansas — have been facing separate commission inquiries into the reasonableness of the charges they impose on customers.
“We’re grateful the Commission upheld common sense and fairness,” Waldrip said in a statement. “This outcome protects ratepayers from unjustified costs and keeps Arkansas on a path toward responsible, customer-focused energy policy.”
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