If Rocky Mountain Power’s hike is OK’d, average Utahn would pay an extra $90 yearly.

By Steven Oberbeck

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Rocky Mountain Power is asking for another big rate increase, one that if approved would raise the average Utahn’s electricity bill by about $7.50 a month.

The power company said Thursday it is asking state utility regulators at the Utah Public Service Commission to approve a $172.3 million rate hike, or roughly 10.5 percent, for its residential customers.

At a glance

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Recent Rocky Mountain Power rate increases

Requested increase Approved increase Effective date Percentage

$161.2 million $39.2 million August 2008 2.7%

$160.6 million $45 million May 2009 2.3%

$66.8 million $32.4 million February 2010 2.2%

$232 million $117 million September 2011 6.7%

Source: Utah Public Service Commission

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It said it needs the increase to help it deal with the steadily rising demand for electricity in the state — growing demand that has required it to increase spending for new generating facilities, upgrades to improve the reliability of its transmission lines and new environmental equipment for its coal-fired plants.

"The reasons [behind this requested increase] are similar to those that we’ve talked about in the past," said utility spokesman Dave Eskelsen.

The utility, which provides most Utahns with the electricity to power appliances and other devices in their homes, has said for the past several years that as long as it is in a building mode and needs to construct facilities, it will need to file rate cases on a fairly regular basis.

The company last raised its rates in September 2011, by an average of $42 a year, or about $3.50 a month.

Prior to its latest request, Rocky Mountain Power had asked to raise its rates four times since December 2007. Those requested increases ranged from $66.8 million to $232 million, for a combined total of $620.6 million.

The company, however, typically gets only a portion of its requested increases.

Since 2007, state utility regulators, after weighing the company’s requests and sifting through evidence and data, granted Rocky Mountain Power permission to increase its rates by a combined $230.6 million, or around 37 percent of the increase it was seeking.

Michele Beck oversees the Committee of Consumer Services, which serves as the voice for residential and small-business owners in utility rate cases. She said that the consumer advocacy agency’s analysis of Rocky Mountain’s latest request has only just began.

"They’ve been telling us all along that they have had to increase their capital expenditures," she said, indicating that at first glance she didn’t see anything unexpected in the company’s filing. "But it is our job now to go in there with our experts and check everything out."

Under Utah law, the PSC has 240 days to issue a ruling. And that means Rocky Mountain Power probably will likely have an answer to its request by mid-October.

steve@sltrib.comTwitter: @OberbeckBiz