# Speak Up at a Rate Case

### The one thing anyone who pays an electric bill can do

A rate case is a public process in which your utility asks to raise its rates. You can send a short comment or speak at a hearing, and it takes about twenty minutes. Ask for three things: pay the utility for results, let someone neutral decide who connects, and publish the map and the rules to connect.

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## What a rate case is

When a utility asks to raise its rates, it goes through a public process called a rate case. Your state's utility commission reviews the request, takes evidence, and decides what the utility may charge. In most states the governor or the legislature appoints the commissioners; in 11 states, voters elect them ([NARUC](https://www.naruc.org/about-naruc/our-mission/history-background)).

Rate cases are one of the few places where the terms of the old deal are set in public, and anyone can weigh in.

## Four steps

1. **Find your state utility commission.** Most are called a Public Service Commission or a Public Utilities Commission. The national association of state commissions keeps a [directory of state commissions](https://www.naruc.org/servingthepublicinterest/resources).
2. **Find your utility's open case.** Search the commission's website for your utility's name and "rate case." Write down the case number, often called a docket number. Many commissions let you sign up for notices.
3. **Send a comment or speak at a hearing.** Most commissions take written comments online or by mail, and hold public comment hearings, often in the evening and sometimes online. A few sentences in your own words are enough.
4. **Ask a neighbor to do the same.** Comments from many customers, each in their own words, carry more weight than one form letter signed many times.

## What to say

Start from this, and make it yours. A sentence about your own bill or town matters more than anything else in it.

> To the \[state\] \[commission name\], case no. \[number\]:
>
> My name is \[name\], and I'm a customer of \[utility\] in \[town\]. \[One or two sentences about your bill, your business, or your community.\]
>
> As you review this request, I ask the Commission to:
>
> 1. Pay the utility for results, such as reliable, affordable service and timely connections, not for how much it builds.
> 2. Make sure someone without a financial stake in the outcome decides who can connect to the grid.
> 3. Require the utility to publish a map of where the grid has room, and clear rules for connecting.
>
> Thank you for considering my comments.
>
> \[Name, town\]

## If a co-op or your city runs your utility

Cooperatives and city-owned utilities usually aren't regulated by the state commission. Their boards set rates, and their meetings are open to members or residents. The same three asks apply.

## What to expect

Your comment becomes part of the public record. Commissions decide on the evidence in the case, so comments that are specific and local carry the most weight: what your bill has done, a project in your town that's waiting to connect, a business that couldn't get power. A decision usually takes several months.

## Why these three

Rates follow the rules that set them. These three asks change those rules: what the utility is paid for, who decides who connects, and how anyone connects at all. They are the terms of the new agreement in Paper III, in plain words.

## Handout

**Speak up at your utility's next rate case.** When a utility asks to raise its rates, it goes through a public process called a rate case. Your state utility commission takes public comments. Ask for three things:

1. Pay the utility for results, not for building.
2. Let someone neutral decide who connects.
3. Publish the map and the rules to connect.

Served by a co-op or a city utility? Ask its board. More at greatinversion.info.

## Hoja informativa (en español)

**Haga oír su voz en el próximo caso de tarifas de su compañía eléctrica.** Cuando una compañía eléctrica pide subir sus tarifas, pasa por un proceso público llamado caso de tarifas. La comisión estatal de servicios públicos acepta comentarios del público. Pida tres cosas:

1. Que se pague a la compañía por resultados, no por construir.
2. Que alguien neutral decida quién se conecta a la red.
3. Que se publiquen el mapa de capacidad y las reglas para conectarse.

¿Su electricidad la ofrece una cooperativa o una empresa municipal? Hable con su junta directiva. Más información en greatinversion.info.