Board members of Heber Light & Power approved a rate increase Feb. 26 — a move that has been in the works for weeks.
The average household can expect to see a 13% rate increase, which bumps most electric bills up by $3 from $12 to $15 per month. Residents will see that change in April, and additional monthly increases of about 3.5% will follow in the coming two years.
Heber Light & Power is not the only company to implement a rate increase in Utah. Last summer, Rocky Mountain Power proposed a 30.5% rate increase before lowering its proposal to 18.1% in August, 2024. Now, the proposal represents a $14.28 monthly increase for the average household in Utah.
Jared Wright, customer and community relations manager for Heber Light & Power, said that the rate increase in Heber comes at the recommendation of a cost-of-service study.
“They go through and figure out what the power company needs to operate,” Wright said.
Consultants for Heber Light & Power go over all revenue and costs with a fine-tooth comb. Budgets and forecasts are included in the analysis and, Wright said, from there it’s “finessing how we can capture that revenue need in rates.”
Consultants conduct the study every three years, with the last study completed in 2022. Heber Light & Power considers findings and recommendations to adjust fees, future projects and budgets.
“It’s simply all about what our operational costs are currently and whatever capital or big projects are needed in associate with impact fees,” Wright said. “It’s pretty in-depth and takes several months for the study to be done. It’s not an exact science with the rates.”
One “big project” included in the study is a new substation that was installed and cost $20 million. That substation ensures a certain amount of redundancy so the power company is not entirely reliant on one grid connection.
Wright said that upgrade makes the power company more reliable and efficient, but there’s also growth costs to take into account. With Heber’s rising density and population, commercial classes (non-residential structures) have increased across the board. That includes everything from detached barns and garages all the way up to schools and grocery stores.
But despite the increase, Wright said that Heber Light and Power is in line with what power companies across the state — like Rocky Mountain Power — are charging.
“This 13% is kind of a catch-up of what we’ve been able to capture over the last few years,” Wright said.
The board will annually evaluate the rate increase, and a new rate structure will be implemented in 2026 that adjusts rates by use during peak or off-peak periods of the day. Times like evenings and hot days would be considered a peak demand occurrence.
At the Heber Light & Power board meeting in February, board members like Brenda Christensen, mayor of Charleston, were not thrilled to be raising household power rates. But some board members, like Aaron Cheatwood, agreed that “it doesn’t make any sense” to avoid a rate increase.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Christensen said.