PHOENIX—The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved EPCOR’s request Tuesday to refund $1,106,392 in tax reform savings to all of the company’s residential and commercial wastewater customers.
More than 57,000 EPCOR wastewater customers will receive more than $1.1 million in federal corporate tax cut savings, reducing the amount of their monthly wastewater bill starting with the July 2018 billing cycle.
Residential customers will receive a monthly credit of $1.26 until new rates are determined in a future rate case. Because wastewater service is billed at a flat rate, all residential customers will receive the same monthly credit.
Residential customers will also receive a one-time credit of $7.56 on their July 2018 bill, refunding corporate taxes collected through June 2018 at the previous tax rate before today’s ACC approval of EPCOR’s application.
“We are extremely pleased to help our wastewater customers save more than $1 million each year, and it’s important to us that we put this into effect as soon as possible,” commented Joe Gysel, President of EPCOR USA, Arizona’s largest regulated water utility.
“All our customers deserve to share in the savings generated by federal tax reform. It’s positive for them, for their communities and for our state.”
EPCOR’s wastewater customers in Maricopa and Mohave counties will see their bills decrease as a result of the tax reform savings. Communities where EPCOR provides wastewater service include Anthem, Corte Bella, Cross River, Fort Mohave, Sun City, Sun City West and Verrado (Buckeye) as well as portions of the cities of Glendale, Goodyear, Surprise, Waddell and Youngtown.
Regulated utilities are required to collect local, state and Federal taxes as part of the service provided to customers. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 passed into law in December 2017, reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent.
However, current rates for EPCOR’s Arizona wastewater customers were set by the ACC in June 2017 based on a 34 percent tax rate. Until new rates are adopted by the ACC in a future rate case, customers will receive a monthly credit to adjust for the lower corporate tax rate now in effect.
Tax reform savings for EPCOR’s water customers are being addressed as part of the current water consolidation rate case currently pending before the ACC.
Please don’t be fooled. This refund is to roughly 1,500 customers in Fort Mohave. None of the Bullhead residents or businesses are benefiting from this. This is an attempt by EPCOR to show you how awesome they are by refunding you this $8, all the while trying to push a massive rate increase through the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Please pay attention. While they are pumping out these great “refunds”, they are working hard to increase the profits of this Canadian owned company. Don’t buy it.