Salt River Project (SRP) announced Monday it has reduced the proposed rate increase that its board of directors will vote on later this month.
SRP stated in a press release that the new proposed increase would be an average 3.9 percent above what electric users pay now. The original proposal — made early this summer — was for an average increase of 4.8 percent.
SRP’s board of directors met Monday morning to hear the formal proposal, input from the board’s consultant and comments from the public.
The decrease in the proposed price change came about because SRP plans to sell some of its energy output from the Hudson Ranch Geothermal Plant in Southern California’s Imperial Valley, Chief Financial Executive Aidan McSheffrey stated in the release. The purchase will reduce by $9.1 million SRP’s expenses for its Environmental Programs Cost Adjustment Factor in fiscal year 2013 and $14.7 million in fiscal year 2014.
The company is trying to meet a goal by 2020 to “meet 20 percent of its retail electricity requirements with sustainable resources.”
SRP’s last price increase came in 2010. The company is trying to provide enough funds to make necessary repairs and upgrades at its power plants, as well as pay for new renewable resources.
The board of directors will vote on the measure Sept. 27.
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