UNS Electric Rate Increase: What Mohave and Santa Cruz Homeowners Need to Know
UNS Electric already raised its rates. After holding steady since 2014, residential rates went up about 12%, and the new prices have been on your bill since February 2025. Here is exactly what changed, why your bill keeps climbing, and the one move that takes most of your cost off the utility’s rate sheet for good.
Reviewed May 2026 · Sources cited throughout and listed at the bottom.
The UNS Electric rate increase: the bottom line
- UNS Electric raised home prices about 12%. For a normal home that is about $13.68 more a month.
- It is already in effect. The new prices have been on your bill since February 2025.
- UNS had not raised these base rates since 2014, so this was the first jump in about ten years.
- Solar locks in your power cost. So a future UNS rate hike only hits the small part of power you still buy.
UNS Electric rate increase: key facts at a glance
- What UNS raised
- Home (residential) rates went up about 12% (roughly 11.9%).
- Typical bill impact
- About $13.68 more per month for a normal home.
- Status
- Approved and in effect. New rates started February 1, 2025.
- Who approved it
- The Arizona Corporation Commission approved it in January 2024.
- Why now
- Base rates had not changed since 2014, and the case reflects about $330 million UNS invested in the grid.
- Who UNS serves
- About 105,000 customers in Mohave County (Kingman, Lake Havasu City) and Santa Cruz County (Nogales).
Status: approved and in effect
This is not a pending request. UNS Electric already raised home rates about 12%. The Arizona Corporation Commission approved it in January 2024, and the new prices have been on your bill since February 1, 2025.
What UNS Electric raised
Short answer: UNS Electric raised residential rates about 12% (roughly 11.9%), which is about $13.68 more per month for a typical home. The Arizona Corporation Commission approved it in January 2024, and the new rates took effect February 1, 2025. Base rates had not changed since 2014.
UNS Electric, the UniSource utility, asked the Arizona Corporation Commission (the elected group that oversees the power company) to raise its rates. The commission approved the case in January 2024, and the new rates took effect on February 1, 2025. For homes, the increase was about 12% (roughly 11.9%), which adds about $13.68 a month to a typical bill.
What makes this one notable is how long it had been coming. UNS Electric base rates had not changed since 2014, so this was the first base increase in about a decade. The case reflects roughly $330 million that UNS invested in the grid (its poles, wires, substations, and equipment) over those years to keep the power flowing.
| What it is | UNS Electric residential rate increase (approved and in effect) |
|---|---|
| Approved | By the Arizona Corporation Commission, January 2024 |
| In effect since | February 1, 2025 |
| Home increase | About 12% (roughly 11.9%) |
| Typical bill change | About $13.68 more per month for a normal home |
| Last base change before this | 2014 (rates held flat for about a decade) |
| What drove it | About $330 million of grid investment since 2014 |
| Who it affects | About 105,000 customers in Mohave and Santa Cruz counties |
Source: UNS Electric new rates (Arizona Corporation Commission, approved January 2024). UNS Electric new-rates page · Arizona Corporation Commission.
Why your bill keeps climbing
Short answer: UNS Electric held its base rates flat from 2014 until this increase, and it reflects about $330 million of grid investment over that span. On top of that, power demand is rising across Arizona, including pressure from large new users like data centers, and building the grid to keep up costs money. Much of that cost lands on home bills.
For about a decade, UNS Electric did not raise its base rates. But the cost of running and building the grid did not stand still. Over those years UNS spent roughly $330 million on the equipment that delivers your power, the poles, wires, and substations, and this increase is how the company recovers that spending.
There is a bigger pattern behind it, too. Power demand is climbing all across Arizona. New large users, including data centers, are pulling more electricity from the grid statewide, and building the system to serve that growth is expensive. That pressure does not stop at the edge of any one city. It is one of the reasons utilities across the state, APS, TEP, and UNS Electric, have all been raising rates.
The bottom line: Your power bill keeps climbing because building and running the grid keeps getting more expensive, and demand across Arizona keeps growing. You cannot stop that. But you can stop buying so much power from UNS Electric in the first place, which is exactly what solar does.
What it means for your bill
Short answer: For a home using about 1,000 kWh a month, the UNS Electric increase adds about $13.68 a month. That is an illustrative estimate, not a guarantee: your actual change depends on how much power you use and your rate plan. The chart below shows roughly what power costs a home like yours, and why solar caps it.
The increase is already on your bill, and it does not happen just once. Power prices tend to keep climbing over time, and the demand pressure driving it across Arizona is not slowing down. Here is what power costs a home like yours today, and why owning solar holds your own cost steady.
A home about this big in Arizona
What power costs, and what solar saves
Bigger home, more air conditioning, bigger power bill. Here is roughly what a home each size spends on power from APS today, and roughly how much it would save with its own solar.
-
Smaller home
about 1,200 sq ft
$110–$140 a month to APS now
$1,300–$1,700 a year to APS now
With your own solar, save about $1,050–$1,600 a year, on average roughly $90–$135 a month back in your pocket
-
Average home
about 1,800 sq ft
$170–$210 a month to APS now
$2,000–$2,500 a year to APS now
With your own solar, save about $1,550–$2,450 a year, on average roughly $130–$205 a month back in your pocket
-
Bigger home
about 2,800 sq ft
$270–$320 a month to APS now
$3,200–$3,800 a year to APS now
With your own solar, save about $2,400–$3,800 a year, on average roughly $200–$315 a month back in your pocket
These are rough estimates, not a quote. Your real number depends on your home, your AC, your roof, and your rate plan.
Here is why solar saves you money
It comes down to the price of one unit of power (one kilowatt-hour).
about 15.46¢ a unit
It climbs about 5% every year as APS raises rates.
about 11¢ a unit
$0 down, and the price stays the same year after year.
Your solar price is locked. APS keeps climbing. Today the gap is about 4.5¢ a unit, and every year APS goes up, you save more.
Solar locks in most of your power cost, so it stops climbing. The longer you wait, the more APS raises rates, and the more you miss out on.
How we got these: an Arizona home uses about 0.68 kilowatt-hours per square foot each month (higher than the national average because of air conditioning), at the APS average rate of 15.46 cents per kilowatt-hour, which climbs about 5% a year as rates rise. For a roughly 2,000 sq ft home that lands near the Arizona average of about 1,422 kWh and about $164 a month; summer bills run higher, often $200 to $250. The solar savings are figured the same way our savings calculator figures them: solar covers about 92% of your power at a locked rate of about 11 cents a unit with $0 down (about 7 cents if you pay cash), while APS keeps rising. The savings shown are an average per year over 25 years, so they start smaller and grow as APS climbs. These are rough estimates, not a quote. Your exact cost and savings come from the free savings review. Sources are listed on this page.
The bottom line: a bigger home pays more, and every rate increase pushes that number higher. Solar locks most of it in.
When you own a solar system, the electricity it makes costs you the same every year. A UNS Electric increase only touches the power you still buy at night or on cloudy days, which is a much smaller number once your roof carries most of your daytime load. Pair panels with a battery and you lean on the grid even less, so the next rate change barely moves your bill.
Want to see the shape of the numbers for your home? Estimate my savings
Cities UNS Electric serves in Arizona
UNS Electric (UniSource) provides power to parts of northwestern and southern Arizona. If you live in one of these cities, the UNS Electric rate increase on this page is your rate increase, and we design and manage solar in your area.
- Kingman
- Lake Havasu City
- Nogales
Kingman and Lake Havasu City are in Mohave County; Nogales is in Santa Cruz County. Phoenix Rise installs solar across all of Arizona, so UNS Electric customers are fully covered. Not sure which utility you have? We will check when we run your free savings review. Estimate my savings Book a free review
Why utilities keep raising rates
Short answer: UNS Electric is an investor-owned, ACC-regulated utility, just like APS and TEP. By law it earns a guaranteed profit on the equipment and wires it builds. The more it spends on the grid, the more money it is allowed to charge you, which is a big reason these increases keep coming.
Here is the part most people do not know. UNS Electric is an investor-owned company, and like APS and TEP it is regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission. By law, a utility like this earns a guaranteed profit on the equipment and wires it builds. The more it spends on new equipment, the more money it is allowed to charge you.
This is not a secret or a scam. It is just how a regulated power company works. The state sets a fixed rate of return (the guaranteed profit) on what the utility builds, so building more, like that $330 million of grid investment, means the company is allowed to collect more from customers. That is why a wave of new spending tends to bring a rate increase right behind it, and why prices tend to climb over time.
You cannot change how that system works. But you can control how much of your own power you buy from the rate sheet at all. That is the whole point of going solar: it takes a large part of your usage off the utility’s books, no matter what the next rate case brings.
Source: UNS Electric new rates (Arizona Corporation Commission, approved January 2024). UNS Electric new-rates page · Arizona Corporation Commission.
What you can do about it
Short answer: You cannot change the UNS Electric rate increase, but you can control how much power you buy from the utility. Rooftop solar, often with $0 down, takes a large share of your usage off the rate sheet, so future increases apply to a much smaller number. A free savings review runs your real numbers and gives an honest answer, even if the answer is no.
The UNS Electric increase is already on your bill, and you cannot vote it away. But you do control one big lever: how much power you buy from the utility in the first place.
Rooftop solar, often with $0 down, takes a large share of your usage off the rate sheet. The power your panels produce is not subject to the next increase, or the one after that. Instead of being fully exposed to a rate you do not control, you fix most of your cost up front. Mohave and Santa Cruz counties get strong Arizona sunlight, so the production case here is good.
We are not going to oversell it. Solar does not fit every roof or every bill. If your roof, shade, or usage means it does not pencil out, we will tell you that to your face. The free review is exactly that: we run your real numbers, on your actual UNS Electric bill, and give you an honest answer.
UNS Electric rate increase: common questions
Is the UNS Electric rate increase approved?
Yes. The UNS Electric rate increase is approved and already on your bill. The Arizona Corporation Commission approved it in January 2024, and the new rates took effect on February 1, 2025. This is not a pending request, it is the price you pay now.
How much did UNS Electric raise rates?
About 12 percent for homes (roughly 11.9 percent), which is about $13.68 more per month for a typical home. UNS Electric base rates had not changed since 2014, and the increase reflects about $330 million UNS invested in the grid (its poles, wires, and equipment) over that time.
Why did my UNS Electric bill go up?
Two reasons. First, UNS Electric had held its base rates flat since 2014, so this was the first increase in about a decade, and it reflects about $330 million of grid investment over those years. Second, power demand is rising across Arizona, including pressure from large new users like data centers, and building the grid to keep up costs money. UNS Electric, like APS and TEP, is an investor-owned utility, so by law it earns a guaranteed profit on what it builds.
Do you install solar in Kingman, Lake Havasu City, or Nogales?
Yes. Phoenix Rise serves homeowners across all of Arizona, and that includes the UNS Electric area: Mohave County (Kingman and Lake Havasu City) and Santa Cruz County (Nogales). These areas get strong Arizona sunlight, so the solar production case is good.
Can solar protect me from UNS Electric rate increases?
It can cap a large part of your exposure. The power your panels produce costs the same every year, so a UNS Electric rate increase only applies to the electricity you still buy from the grid. Once your roof covers most of your daytime usage, a rate hike moves a much smaller number. We will run your real numbers and tell you honestly if solar does not fit your home.
Sources
- UNS Electric, New Rates (Arizona Corporation Commission, approved January 2024; new rates in effect February 1, 2025).
- Arizona Corporation Commission (rate-case authority and records).
Figures reflect the UNS Electric rate increase approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission in January 2024, with new rates in effect since February 1, 2025. Bill-impact figures are illustrative estimates for the usage levels noted and are not a guarantee for any individual home.
UNS Electric rates went up. See what it costs your home.
Bring a recent UNS Electric bill. We will run your real numbers and tell you honestly what solar would do for it, even if the answer is no. No pressure, no hard sell.