Laramie County Democrats urge the Wyoming Public Service Commission to prioritize affordability on proposed 30% electricity rate hike.

[Laramie County, November 27, 2023] - With winter upon us, the Laramie County Democrats urge the Wyoming Public Service Commission to prioritize affordability in its decision-making on the nearly 30% electricity rate hike being proposed by Rocky Mountain Power.

While the responsibilities of market forces, renewable energy development, “multi-state protocols,” “debt-to-equity ratios,” and obligations to shareholders are fraught with both perceived and real complexity, the responsibility of the Public Service Commission is not. It is the PSC’s straightforward responsibility to “…ensure the availability of safe, adequate and reliable utility service at just and reasonable rates.”

Laramie County’s economic environment reflects that in the state as a whole. It is characterized by high inflation, high interest rates, increasing property taxes, a higher and faster-increasing proportion of residents 65 and older and a post-pandemic economic recovery lagging significantly behind the national rate (2.1% vs 3% employment growth according to the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division). In this environment a 30% rate hike is clearly not just or reasonable.

Rocky Mountain Power is responsible to its share-holders. As a regulatory body, the PSC is responsible to the public. We therefore urge the PSC to reject Rocky Mountain Power’s proposal and accept a lower rate hike such as those recommended by the Wyoming Industrial Energy Consumers and the Wyoming Office of the Consumer Advocate.

Further, we encourage the Wyoming State Legislature to expand bill discount options for vulnerable populations in Wyoming in winter and summer alike, a concept that, according to recent reported testimony before the PSC, Rocky Mountain Power’s leadership had not even considered supporting.

Laramie County’s many energy industry workers are one of the reasons Wyoming prides itself on being the State that provides affordable energy to the rest of the nation. However, for this slogan to be justified, Wyoming must prove it at home.

For media inquiries, please contact: Marcie Kindred Communications Director |Laramie County Democratic Party 307-631-5643 | communications@laramiecountydemocrats.org