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Bill Adjustors

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What are adjustors?

Adjustors – also referred to as adjustments or surcharges – are a part of the overall cost of electric service and appear as separate line items on your bill. They increase or decrease at certain times in the year to fund important customer programs and services. Unlike base rates for electricity – which typically only change every few years following a rate case process – adjustors can change annually. That annual adjustment keeps our pricing more reflective of actual costs to serve customers and also helps customers experience gradual price changes, rather than all at one time at the end of a rate case. Adjustors also are one way we can more quickly pass cost reductions on to customers. 

How do adjustors affect my bill?

Adjustor amounts are based on your actual monthly energy usage. Each adjustor is reviewed on an annual basis by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). The typical residential customer uses 1,050 kilowatt-hours in a month. If your usage is higher than typical, the impact will be higher. If usage is lower, the impact is lower.

If you’re looking for ways to manage energy costs, we’re here to help. You can view savings tips or call us to discuss ways to save at (602) 371-7171 (metro Phoenix) or (800) 253-9405 (other areas).

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Making sense of your bill

Check out a sample of what your bill looks like, including where you will find adjustor line items and other explanations of charges.

Adjustor Information

Click on the adjustor name below to learn more about the adjustor and how it has changed since 2018.

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The Environmental Improvement Surcharge recovers some of the costs for environmental improvements for the APS grid and facilities.

2018 – Increase
2019 – Increase
2020 – Increase
2021 – Increase
2021 – Decrease (with rate case)

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The Renewable Energy Adjustment Charge funds renewable energy projects and is combined with the Demand Side Management Adjustment Charge to appear on your bill as the Environmental Benefits Surcharge.

2018 – Decrease
2019 – Decrease
2020 – No change
2021 – Increase early in the year; Decrease in December 
2022 – Increase 

The most recent increase in 2022 is driven by more investments in renewable generation projects, Coal Community Transition funds and the expanded Solar Communities Program.

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The Demand Side Management Adjustment Charge funds energy efficiency projects and programs. (It is combined with the Renewable Energy Adjustment Charge to appear on your bill as the Environmental Benefits Surcharge.)

2018 – No change
2019 – No change
2020 – No change
2021 – Increase

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The Lost Fixed Cost Recovery adjustor is a charge to recover fixed costs of providing service such as: power poles, wires and other delivery infrastructure, that are lost due to mandated energy efficiency and customer solar programs, which reduce the amount of revenue to cover these costs.

2019 – Increase early in the year to kilowatt charges for customers on plans with a demand charge and a decrease for kilowatt-hour charges for customers on a plan without a demand charge; Decrease later in the year for all plans.
2020 – Decrease
2021 – No change
2022 – Increase 

The most recent increase in 2022 is driven by customer participation in energy efficiency and renewable programs and impacts of not adjusting the rate in 2021.

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This provides an adjustment to customer bills based on changes to the federal corporate income tax rate.

2018 – Decrease
2019 Part 1 – Decrease
2019 Part 2 – Decrease
2020 – Increase (This is still a credit back to customers, but a smaller credit than 2019.)
2021 – Increase (with rate case) (credit went to zero)

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The Power Supply Adjustment (PSA) covers what APS pays for fuel and purchased power (such as electricity we buy on the market or from private companies). APS does not make a profit off these costs; charges are passed on to customers without markup. When prices in the market are high, this adjustment goes up. When prices drop, it goes down. The impact of this adjustment on your bill depends on how much energy you use each month. That’s because it is charged per kilowatt-hour of energy you use. 

The PSA went up in March 2023 due to a number of factors, including extreme heat in the Western United States that led to higher energy demand and strained regional power supplies, delays in PSA rate adjustments in 2021 due to COVID, and overall increasing fuel costs.  

If you’re looking for ways to manage energy costs, we’re here to help. You can view savings tips or call us to discuss ways to save at (602) 371-7171 (metro Phoenix) or (800) 253-9405 (other areas). 

 

Customer Class

PSA Current Charge

Previous PSA

Typical Usage per Month (kWh)

Net Impact

Residential

$0.019074

$0.007544

1,050

$12.10

Commercial XS

$0.019074

$0.007544

1,259

$14.52

Commercial Small

$0.019074

$0.007544

10,802

$124.54

Commercial Medium

$0.019074

$0.007544

61,057

$703.98

Commercial Large

$0.019074

$0.007544

283,329

$3,266.79

Industrial XL

$0.019074

$0.007544

2,833,862

$32,674.44

 

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The Transmission Cost Adjustment, which appears as the “Federal transmission cost adjustment” on your bill, allows for timely recovery of costs authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission related to necessary transmission infrastructure, such as large power lines that move electricity long distances, such as from a power plant to a town's substations.

2018 – Decrease
2019 – Decrease for residential customers; Increase for business customers
2020 – Decrease
2021 – Decrease
2022 – Decrease for residential customers; Increase for business customers  
2023 – Decrease

The most recent changes to this adjustor in 2023 are driven by a change in transmission costs to reliably serve customers compared to the prior year.
Adjustor Tariff Documents
To learn more about each adjustor and review tariff sheets, please click the link below.
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