After a request in January for an additional $18.48 per month from the average Summit Utilities user, the utility pared its request down to where it stands now, $15.43. If you use more than 5,000 cubic feet per month of natural gas, you will pay more than this. If you use less, you will pay less than this. The increase per cubic foot amounts to 31 cents. On top of that, a $4.37 per month billing credit to make up for the overbilling that occurred the last two years, will expire in December.
State Representative Danny Watson, who represents Hempstead County, said late last week he was following the process of Summit’s request for a rate increase, which included a public hearing by the APSC that took place on October 28th and included testimony of the financial difficulty the increase will cause many households.
“I was assured by Government Relations that whatever changes are going to be done, they're going to try to make sure it's as painless as possible,” Watson said.
The person with whom Watson spoke also assured him that they understand the concerns of ratepayers in Southern Arkansas who tend to make lower incomes than those in central and northwest parts of the state. “He said, ‘I know it's a concern.’ I said, ‘Oh, absolutely it's a concern…. Coming from you,’ I said, ‘I'm going to accept that.’
“With the losses [from storm damage] and infrastructure having to constantly be maintained and upgraded, there's going to be a cost somewhere. When we start having unreliable infrastructure, electricity or water, whatever it is, we'll all start raising sand about it. So now's the time to slowly try to get back and get this stuff maintained and keep it maintained,” Watson said.
Hempstead County NAACP Chapter president Sylvia Brown appeared at the October 28th hearing, testifying to the APSC of the difficulties lower income households will have with the increase as the winter months arrive. Then she appeared on a Little Rock podcast posted November 1st, discussing the issue with host Osyrus Bolly.
A letter sent by Summit to ratepayers, Brown said, was worded in a way that made the decision to raise rates seem like it had already been made, and there was no longer a chance for anyone to voice their concerns prior to the APSC making their decision of whether to approve the rate request Summit is asking for. This may have dampened the extent of the protest against the request for a rate increase.
“They [Summit Utilities and the APSC] have been negotiating this for ten months,” Brown said on the podcast. “That’s one of the things I mentioned in my testimony. [I said,] ‘You all have kept a tight lid on this from Summit to the Attorney General to the other parties, to the commission. The way it started bubbling up with the legislature is they were getting calls from their constituents because the letter Summit was sending out was ‘It was a done deal.’”
Brown encouraged concerned ratepayers to reach out to state legislators to voice their concerns.
Summit Utilities on January 10, 2022 announced its purchase of CenterPoint Energy for a reported $2.1 billion. Afterward, many consumers complained of outlandish price increases on their bills., prompting Attorney General Tim Griffin to communicate their concerns to the utility. He said in a statement released January 31st of 2023 that he was told by Summit the issues stemmed from ‘data processing issue’ and “no Arkansans will end up stuck with bills that are inconsistent with their energy usage. Any overcharges will be paid back to the affected customers.”
Almost a year later, citing “inflation, economic conditions, and capital investments in our system,” Summit notified its residential and small business customers it was requesting authorization from the APSC for a rate increase. A report of the APSC’s decision and findings is expected by November 22nd but any increase would begin applying to bills starting November 23rd.