Attorney General Kris Mayes held her second town hall about Tucson Electric Power’s proposed rate increase Tuesday.
She heard from dozens of TEP customers who said they couldn’t afford higher electric bills, like Soleste Lupu and Joseph Rodgers who own and operate the non-profit dance studio, Dancing in the Streets Arizona.
They said they cannot afford a 14% rate increase because most of their income relies on grants and donations.
“We do not recover our costs from the tuition,” she said, noting that most of their students come from low-income families. “[A] 14% increase in general operating costs means we have no way to pass that on, we’re not a restaurant.”
The couple said that they’ve had their power disconnected before, while they were waiting on grant funding.
“You just can’t dance without air conditioning especially in the summer months,” Lupu said.
According to TEP, there were 13,389 residential disconnections in 2025 – about 96% of those customers were reconnected.
Mike Humphrey, a member of the Pima County Board of Health, said that those living in mobile homes are also vulnerable to power disconnections.
“Failure to pay these energy costs are a factor in resident evictions,” he said.
Humphrey highlighted the fact that the interior of uncooled mobile homes can reach 120 degrees. He called on TEP to eliminate master metering in mobile home parks.
With master metering, a single large meter measures usage for the entire community.
“Install TEP meters on all mobile homes, regardless of whether they are rented or owned,” he said.
Mayes told AZPM that people living in Tucson are frustrated with the proposed rate increase.
“Seniors living on fixed incomes cannot afford this huge rate increase and folks who are living in the lower income ranges also can’t afford it,” she said.
Mayes’ office is collecting testimony that will be put before the Arizona Corporation Commission – the state’s utility regulator – during the formal rate case hearing on April 22.
TEP is hoping to increase residential consumer rates by 14%, which would increase monthly bills by about $16 to $20.
J.D. Wallace, spokesperson with TEP said current rates are based on costs from 2021.
“While the rate of inflation has been 15% since then, we’re asking for a 14% increase and we need that to cover the costs of improvements we’ve made,” he said.
The utility company says on its website that infrastructure costs, equipment, maintenance and improvements to the grid amount to $1.7 billion.
It has been reported that TEP’s parent company Fortis earned $1.6 billion in revenue in 2024.
The last time TEP raised its rates was in 2023 by 10% after a rate-case proceeding and in 2021, by 6% due to increased costs and fuel and power.
