Who has oversight over SRP/Salt River Project? (for sale, to buy)

[Voebe]

I just got a supposed refund/compensation check from SRP (which I think they're obligated to do for APS customers), and I'm so irritated at their deducting an outsize "administrative fee" that I'd like to complain.

Does anyone know who exactly has oversight? Presumably the Corporation Commission, for starters, but exactly what department, and who would be head of it? If it's a state utility, is there a state senator or the equivalent, who heads an energy/utility sub-committee?

[Ponderosa]

They are a quasi-governmental organization. The corporation commission has no control over them. Really, no one outside their own board does.

http://www.srpnet.com/about/officers.aspx

[DetroitN8V]

Why did you get a check from SRP? I'm an APS customer too, can I expect one (for some reason)?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Why did you get a check from SRP? I'm an APS customer too, can I expect one (for some reason)?

Maybe, but you have to live in the SRP service area where they should be providing your electric but for various reasons it is being provided by APS. There are not a lot of people in that category.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Maybe, but you have to live in the SRP service area where they should be providing your electric but for various reasons it is being provided by APS. There are not a lot of people in that category.

Darn it. I'll have to buy my own beer.

[pbenjamin]

Not only do you have to live in an SRP service area and own the land, you have to apply annually (due some time in August). They then proceed to contact APS and see what your bills looked like. If they determine that you paid more with APS you are then entitled to compensation. We live in such an area and applied last year but did not qualify as our APS bills were too low. I applied again this year and have not yet received a verdict.

[Voebe]

Actually, Ponderosa, SRP is a utility company, and that should be exactly what the Corporation Commission regulates.

Right, PBenjamin, but don't make it sound like a lot of work. SRP sends you a form, it takes about a minute or two to fill it out, and then you just wait to see if you get money. Some years mine were too low for compensation, too, but when I'm getting money, it's annoying to have them subtract this big chunk.

And I'm sure that someone, somewhere, has oversight.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Voebe

Actually, Ponderosa, SRP is a utility company, and that should be exactly what the Corporation Commission regulates.

Right, PBenjamin, but don't make it sound like a lot of work. SRP sends you a form, it takes about a minute or two to fill it out, and then you just wait to see if you get money. Some years mine were too low for compensation, too, but when I'm getting money, it's annoying to have them subtract this big chunk.

And I'm sure that someone, somewhere, has oversight.

They are what I said they are, a quasi-government entity - they are a government owned corporation. SRP was set up as a water conservation/irrigation entity under the Bureau of Reclamation. They provide water and electric services to landowners in the Project boundaries as the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, which is an agency of the state of Arizona. They are not regulated by the corporation commission. I know what I am talking about. I provided you with a link to all the officers and elected members. If you want to complain you need to do it through them.

As for the Corporation Commission, even if they were regulated by them it would do you little good. The Commission is made up entirely of pro-business interest Republicans, a case of the fox guarding the hen house. They have rarely seen a rate increase or a fee they did not like.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Voebe

Actually, Ponderosa, SRP is a utility company, and that should be exactly what the Corporation Commission regulates.

Right, PBenjamin, but don't make it sound like a lot of work. SRP sends you a form, it takes about a minute or two to fill it out, and then you just wait to see if you get money. Some years mine were too low for compensation, too, but when I'm getting money, it's annoying to have them subtract this big chunk.

And I'm sure that someone, somewhere, has oversight.

Ponderosa is absolutely correct. It is not, by law, a utility company. And no, no one has real oversight over them except their board, like it or not. If you don't want to complain to their board, complain to 3 on Your Side, or something similar, but I doubt it will get far.

[Desertspiritsteve]

Does SRP bill the electricity users for sales taxes like APS does? Looking at my last APS bill, I'd say the sales tax items came to almost 15 percent.