SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Pacific Power today filed a general rate request with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to recover increasing operational costs including power costs, health care, insurance and pension costs and significant capital investments. Pacific Power’s case requests an overall increase of $11 million, or 15.6 percent. The company is requesting an implementation date of Jan. 1, 2007.

The rate request would allow the company to cover increasing expenses, including power costs, necessary to serve California customers and make investments to maintain reliable service. 

“It has been two years since the last rate case was approved in the state, and it will take a year for the Commission to review this filing, so this increase would be the first in three years,” said Andy MacRitchie, Pacific Power’s executive vice president of Strategy, Regulation and External Affairs. “As fuel, labor and other costs have increased over this time, prices charged to customers have not kept pace. Without rate increases, it would become increasingly difficult to make the investments needed to maintain safe, reliable service to customers on an ongoing basis.”

If this rate request is approved as filed, a typical residential customer using 925 kilowatt-hours per month will pay an average of $93.75 per month.

Even with the proposed change, and after adjusting for inflation, Pacific Power’s average price in California will be less than it was 15 years ago, and the company’s average rate will remain the lowest among other investor-owned utilities serving in California.

Pacific Power serves about 47,000 customers in northern California. As part of PacifiCorp, Pacific Power and sister company Utah Power provide electricity and related services to 1.6 million customers in six Western states.

Media inquiries:newsdesk@PacifiCorp.com .