Arkansas PSC Opens Door For Higher Electricity Bills

Governor-appointed commissioners allow SWEPCO to raise rates by 23%

Little Rock, Arkansas — Yesterday, as the region focused on an impending winter storm, the Arkansas Public Service Commission approved a move to raise customers’ electricity costs in much of Northwest Arkansas. With the go-ahead from the three governor-appointed PSC commissioners, SWEPCO will increase bills by 23% at current fuel costs, in part to help prop up the old, dirty, and expensive Flint Creek coal plant.

In the same decision, the PSC recognized the immense public outcry against the coal plant increase, which included more than 600 public comments and two hours of public testimony opposing the move. The commissioners ordered SWEPCO to file reports with “detailed information regarding SWEPCO’s efforts to plan for the retirement of Flint Creek and address load growth in the northwest Arkansas region.”

In response to the PSC’s decision, Cameron Rackley, a Northwest Arkansas resident and organizing intern for the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:

“SWEPCO customers in Arkansas will soon feel the pain of even higher electric bills because of the Arkansas PSC’s decision. While it’s nice that the commissioners recognized the public’s outrage at SWEPCO’s rate request, nice doesn’t pay the bills. Ultimately it’s the decision that impacts our lives, not the rhetoric. Arkansans are paying attention, and we look forward to holding SWEPCO and the PSC accountable for planning to replace the expensive, polluting Flint Creek coal plant with cheaper, cleaner renewables that will allow our Natural State to thrive.”

Background:

• SWEPCO’s Flint Creek coal plant is nearly 50 years old, and the risk of mechanical failure rises with age. As Flint Creek gets older, and renewable energy replacements are not planned, its owners jeopardize the reliability of Northwest Arkansas’s grid.

• Coal pollution is full of chemicals and heavy metals that harm people’s health and reduce the number of days they’re able to attend school and work — making it more difficult for families to build a prosperous life in Northwest Arkansas.

• SWEPCO customers in Arkansas have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars over the past four-plus decades to build and keep propping up Flint Creek.

• The price of coal has gone up almost 30% in the last three years, but solar and wind are now among the cheapest forms of energy available today, and the price of battery storage continues to significantly drop.

• Arkansans paid over $13.6 million in health costs due to Flint Creek’s coal pollution in 2023 alone.

• The settlement fails to remove the economic and health impacts of Flint Creek and still results in a massive rate increase. The PSC must uphold its mandate to ensure safe and adequate service at just and reasonable rates.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.