Rocky Mountain Power is asking Wyoming regulators for a rate increase of $70.5 million a year, and the Wyoming Public Service Commission has set a public hearing on the request for Tuesday, Dec. 1, in Cheyenne. If the commission approves what the utility wants, the first part of the increase would start with service on March 15, 2027.
The request is docket 20000-710-ER-26. The commission’s public notices describe it as a retail rate increase of $70.5 million per year, or 8.8 percent, in two steps. Step one is $68.3 million, or 8.5 percent, for service on and after March 15, 2027. Step two is a net $2.2 million, or 0.3 percent, for service on and after April 1, 2027, tied to the potential sale of the company’s Washington service area.
The company serves between 147,000 and 150,000 Wyoming customers, according to AARP Wyoming. AARP, citing the utility, says the average customer would pay around $8.70 more a month starting in March 2027 and that the basic monthly charge would rise from $23 to $25. Nothing is decided. Customers who want to be heard can attend the Dec. 1 hearing at 9 a.m. in the commission’s hearing room, 2515 Warren Avenue, Suite 300, or reach the commission through its Contact Us page to ask how to submit comments.
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What the $70.5 million is for
The utility’s application asks for more than a higher price per kilowatt-hour. It also seeks to revise Schedule 92, the Insurance Cost Adjustment, to set up a wildfire liability self-insurance reserve fund. A new Schedule 96 would return the value of a proposed goodwill credit from the Washington sale to customers, and the company wants changes to its Energy Cost Adjustment Mechanism, the part of the bill that tracks fuel and purchased-power costs.
The commission’s notices show the case moving in stages. The application notice is dated May 18, 2026, a second notice in August announced two public comment hearings in the docket, and the Nov. 5 notice set the Dec. 1 hearing. Rocky Mountain Power has said the request is not driven by data centers, and Justin Ballard of the state’s Office of Consumer Advocate told Cowboy State Daily he knows of none the company serves in Wyoming.
The consumer advocate wants a cut instead
The Office of Consumer Advocate, the state office that represents ratepayers in these cases, has told the commission the company should drop the increase and charge 2.9% less than it does now, Cowboy State Daily reported Oct. 1. Ballard, the office’s deputy administrator, said its review found the utility overstated what it needs to collect. He said the office is not out to hurt the company and that the numbers simply came out that way.
Ballard said the company’s 2027 forecast used December prices for natural gas and wholesale power that have since fallen. The office also says the utility double-counted a pricing adjustment and undercounted savings from a regional energy market it joined in May. Rocky Mountain Power spokesperson Jona Whitesides said the company has not fully recovered its past spending and called the outcome “a flip of a coin” until its attorneys review the filing.
The company says its 8.8% request already carries a 2.8% credit to customers from lower net coal and natural gas costs. The Wyoming Industrial Energy Consumers and a group of irrigators and agricultural customers have also joined the case, which means large power users are at the table alongside the consumer advocate.
How the last two cases ended
Wyoming regulators have not handed the utility everything it asked for lately. In 2024 the commission approved $53.9 million, or 8.3%, after the company requested $140.2 million. In 2025 it approved a 10.2% increase under a settlement negotiated by the Office of Consumer Advocate and industrial customers.
The 2025 settlement came from the same kinds of parties now arguing over this case. AARP reports that the current request assumes a 9.7% return on equity, the profit rate the company would be allowed to earn on its invested capital. The commission’s notices list the dates and the dollar figures but no ruling yet; the Dec. 1 hearing is the next step on the calendar.
Customers who want to push back have at least two routes. AARP Wyoming says it is collecting signatures on a petition against the increase and will present it to the commission at the December hearing. Anyone can also ask the commission directly how to file a written comment in the docket, and the Office of Consumer Advocate, which AARP says will intervene through its administrator, Anthony Ornelas, is already arguing for lower rates on customers’ behalf.
For a household, the practical effect shows up as a higher electric line on a statement from the spring of 2027. Customers on fixed incomes who already track that line each month can compare the amount with the proposed $8.70 figure once the commission rules, and ask the utility about payment arrangements or budget billing before the first higher bill arrives.
Will the Rocky Mountain Power bill go up in March?
If the commission grants even part of the request, higher electric charges would start on service from March 15, 2027, and the first bill with the new rate can be a surprise to a household on a fixed income. Waiting for that statement leaves less room to set up a payment plan first.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
