Consumers who are just recovering from the scare of a 15% proposed increase in electricity rates had better brace, Because tonight, BEL is back – and this time the company is requesting an average increase of 13.4% or just about 6 cents more per kilowatt hour. The power company’s explanation is that the rising rates are driven by soaring world oil prices – which has increased the cost of power purchased from Mexico by 100%.
The submission is called the ARP or Annual Review Process which is due every year in April. The PUC has until May second to render its final decision. Comments are invited from the public. You can view the submission at the PUC websitestarting tomorrow morning at 9:00. The PUC will also have a press conference tomorrow to discuss the ARP submission – and of course, we’ll have that for you in our next newscast.
