APS rate increase history, 2017 to 2026

This is a reference timeline, not an explainer. It records what the Arizona Corporation Commission actually decided in each APS rate proceeding since 2017, with the docket number, the decision number, the date, and the approved figure.

For the current 2026 rate case and what happens next in it, see the APS rate increase page. That case is not decided and does not appear in the historical record below.

The record at a glance

Four proceedings, nine years, and one of them went down.

2017: Decision 75859, the end of net metering

Docket E-00000J-14-0023 was not an APS rate case. It was a generic Commission proceeding on the value of distributed generation, and it applied across regulated Arizona utilities.

Issued January 3, 2017, the decision ended retail-rate net metering for new rooftop solar customers and replaced it with an export credit set by a Resource Comparison Proxy methodology. It capped the annual step-down of that export rate at 10 percent and established a ten-year lock, so a customer’s export rate is fixed for a decade from approval.

Arizona solar economics runs on that decision more than on any single rate case. What it did to export compensation is covered in APS solar buyback rates explained.

2017: Decision 76295

APS filed the case on June 1, 2016 as Docket E-01345A-16-0036. A settlement agreement was signed on March 27, 2017 by a majority of stakeholders including Commission Staff, the Residential Utility Consumer Office, limited-income advocates and rooftop solar organizations. The Commission approved it on August 15, 2017 without material modification and issued the written order on August 18, 2017.

The approved net retail base rate increase was $94.6 million, composed of a $87.2 million non-fuel, non-depreciation increase, a $53.6 million fuel and purchased power decrease, and a $61.0 million depreciation increase. Return on equity was set at 10.0 percent on a capital structure of 44.2 percent debt and 55.8 percent equity.

Two rate design changes came out of the same settlement: the time-of-use on-peak window moved to 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., and the first-year Resource Comparison Proxy export rate was set at 12.9 cents per kWh.

2021: Decision 78317, a decrease

APS filed on October 31, 2019 as Docket E-01345A-19-0236, requesting a $69 million base rate increase and a $184 million total annual revenue increase, with a typical residential bill impact of 5.4 percent.

It did not get it. The evidentiary hearing closed March 3, 2021. On August 2, 2021 the administrative law judge issued a Recommended Opinion and Order proposing a $111 million annual revenue decrease and a 9.16 percent return on equity. The Commission approved an amended version on November 2, 2021 by a 3 to 2 vote, and issued Decision No. 78317 on November 9, 2021.

As approved, the case produced a total annual revenue decrease of $4.8 million, excluding temporary payments, with return on equity cut to 8.70 percent. The Commission disallowed $215.5 million of investment in selective catalytic reduction equipment at the Four Corners plant. New rates took effect December 1, 2021.

This is also the case that moved the on-peak window to its current 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., covered in APS time-of-use rates explained.

Why do sources report a $119 million rate decrease?

Because they are quoting the judge, not the Commission. The administrative law judge recommended a $111 million annual revenue decrease in August 2021. The Commission approved an amended version, and the audited figure in Pinnacle West’s annual report is a $4.8 million total annual revenue decrease. A recommendation is not a decision, and the two differ by two orders of magnitude here.

2023: the Court Resolution Surcharge

Decision 78317 did not survive intact. A partial reversal by the Court of Appeals sent the Four Corners disallowance back, and on June 21, 2023 the Commission approved a joint resolution in the same docket.

The result was a Court Resolution Surcharge effective July 1, 2023, recovering the $215.5 million of previously disallowed costs, restoring return on equity from 8.7 to 8.9 percent, and recovering $59.6 million of revenue lost between December 2021 and June 2023.

This is why a “rate decrease” in 2021 did not stay a decrease. Rate cases can be appealed, and the outcome can be unwound in a later proceeding in the same docket.

2024: Decision 79293

Docket E-01345A-22-0144 is the largest single increase in this record.

The Commission voted 4 to 1 on February 22, 2024 to approve amendments to the Recommended Opinion and Order, then issued the final order as Decision No. 79293 on March 5, 2024. New rates applied to all service rendered on or after March 8, 2024.

What the Commission approved

Headline figures from the Commission’s own announcement (opens in a new tab):

Why do two different revenue figures get quoted for the same case?

Because both are correct and they measure different things. The $491.7 million base increase is gross. The roughly $253.4 million is net of amounts moved out of adjustor mechanisms and into base rates. Coverage that quotes one figure without labeling which one produces most of the confusion about how large this case was.

Every APS residential tariff sheet in force today carries a March 8, 2024 revision date under this decision.

2024: Decision 79648, the Grid Access Charge rehearing

On April 15, 2024 the Commission granted a limited rehearing in the same docket, confined to a single question: whether the Grid Access Charge applied to solar customers is just and reasonable, and whether it discriminates for or against them. All other rehearing applications were denied.

The rehearing was held October 28 through November 1, 2024. On December 17, 2024 the Commission approved the Recommended Opinion and Order affirming the charge as just, reasonable and non-discriminatory, and issued Decision No. 79648 on December 31, 2024. An amendment directed APS to propose a site-load cost of service revenue allocation in its next rate case.

Appeals followed from the Solar Energy Industries Association, AriSEIA, Vote Solar, the Arizona Attorney General and two individual customers.

How much have Arizona electric rates actually risen since 2017?

The state average residential price went from 12.44 cents per kWh in 2017 to 15.32 cents in 2025, a rise of 23.2 percent in nominal terms. Almost all of it landed after 2021. Decision figures describe revenue requirements, not what anybody paid, so the state-level series below is the check on them.

View the numbers as a table

Arizona average residential electricity price, 2017 to 2025 — full dataset

Period	Arizona residential (¢/kWh)
2017	12.44¢/kWh
2018	12.77¢/kWh
2019	12.43¢/kWh
2020	12.27¢/kWh
2021	12.54¢/kWh
2022	13.02¢/kWh
2023	14.02¢/kWh
2024	14.91¢/kWh
2025	15.32¢/kWh

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 historical state file (2017-2024) and Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.B, February 2026 issue (2025 preliminary).

Four flat years, then four steep ones

The shape matters more than the total. From 2017 to 2021 the state average moved 10 cents, from 12.44 to 12.54. From 2021 to 2025 it moved 2.78 cents.

Two caveats on this series

It is statewide and covers every Arizona utility, not APS alone, so it blends APS, SRP, TEP and the cooperatives. And it is nominal: it does not adjust for inflation, which was itself unusual across the 2021 to 2023 stretch.

What do APS docket and decision numbers mean?

A docket number identifies the case; a decision number identifies the order that closed it. Docket E-01345A-25-0105 names the utility, the year and the case. Decision 79293 says only when the Commission voted relative to everything else on its calendar, and nothing about the subject.

Reading a docket number

Arizona docket numbers encode their own metadata. E-01345A-22-0144 breaks down as:

Reading a decision number

Decision numbers are sequential across all Commission dockets, which is why 79293 (an APS rate case) and 79647 (a formula rate policy statement) sit next to each other despite being unrelated proceedings. A decision number tells you when something was decided relative to everything else the Commission was doing, and nothing about what it was.

Dockets can be searched at edocket.azcc.gov (opens in a new tab). Searching the year and matter numbers alone, 22-0144, is faster than entering the full string.

Is APS raising rates in 2026?

It has asked to, and the record above does not yet include the answer. APS filed a new case in June 2025, the hearing ran from May 18 to July 7, 2026, and as of August 9, 2026 no recommendation and no decision exist. There is no approved 2026 figure, because the Commission has not voted.

APS filed a new general rate case on June 13, 2025, Docket E-01345A-25-0105. The evidentiary hearing ran from May 18 to July 7, 2026. As of August 9, 2026 no Recommended Opinion and Order has been filed and no decision has been issued, so there is no approved figure to add to the table above.

It belongs in the historical record only after the Commission votes. Until then, follow it on the APS rate increase page.

Decision numbers, dates and dockets in this article were cross-checked against APS’s own filings with the Commission, which cite each prior decision by number and date, and against Pinnacle West Capital Corporation’s annual reports. Retrieved August 9, 2026.

Related reading

• The APS rate increase covers the pending 2026 case in detail.
• APS rate plans explained shows the rate structures that Decision 79293 put in place.
• Arizona electric rates compared: APS vs SRP explains why SRP’s history looks nothing like this one.
• APS solar buyback rates explained traces what Decision 75859 did to export compensation.

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