Apr 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Steven Oberbeck The Salt Lake Tribune

Disappointed it was forced last month to scale back the size of its proposed rate increase, Rocky Mountain Power has crafted a way around its dilemma.

The company notified the Utah Public Service Commission on Monday it intends to file a new rate case in early June, well before its current request to raise rates by $100 million ($2.80 a month for a typical customer) is scheduled to be decided by the state's utility regulators.

The need to request another rate increase is a direct result of the Public Service Commission's decision, Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Jeff Hymas said. He added the company hasn't determined the size of the rate increase it will be requesting in June.

The utility in December initially asked state regulators for permission to raise its rates by $161 million.

However, last month it was forced to reduce its request by 38 percent after the PSC ruled that the company's rates could be based only on its expenses and the amount of money it expected to spend on its generation and transmission system during calendar year 2008.

Rocky Mountain Power had wanted its rates to be based on the 12-month period from July 1, 2008, until June 30, 2009 -- a year during which it projects it would continue to make large investments in its system.

"The fact is that although we work to reduce costs internally and strive to maintain our position as a low-cost provider of electricity, our Utah customers are using increasingly more energy," Hymas said. "This requires increased investment in generation, transmission and distribution facilities in order to maintain the safe and reliable service our customers expect and deserve."

The company's plan to file another rate case in June doesn't come as much of a surprise, said Salt Lake attorney Gary Dodge, who represents a group of industrial customers organized under the banner of the Utah Association of Energy Users that opposed aspects of the company's initial request.

"I guess they were unhappy with the results" of the PSC's decision, Dodge said. "The very day that ruling came out the company's attorneys indicated it intended to file another rate case."

PSC spokeswoman Julie Orchard said it is unusual but not unheard of that a utility would have two rate cases pending at the same time. She noted that under state law, the PSC must hand down a decision on rate cases within 240 days of the utility's initial filing. In Rocky Mountain Power's existing rate case, that date is Aug. 13.