LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Public Service Commission has granted Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s request for a $10.4 million credit for the customers of CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. d/b/a CenterPoint Energy Arkansas Gas (CenterPoint) due to excessive charges by the Company. CenterPoint provides utility service to ratepayers in Arkansas, and its rates are set under a formula rate plan subject to a 4-percent annual limit. This is the second consecutive year that CenterPoint has been required to provide credits to customers due to excessive charges under the Company’s formula rate plan.
“CenterPoint must credit money to customers after excessive charges were collected under the formula rate plan,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “These credits will be a welcomed change for CenterPoint customers including our most vulnerable citizens, especially in light of the challenges facing Arkansans due to COVID-19 and devastating winter storms.”
Attorney General Rutledge’s Consumer Utility Rate Advocacy Division (CURAD) opposed the excessive charges collected through CenterPoint’s formula rate plan and advocated for the return of this money to customers. Beginning on October 1, 2021, customers will see a credit on their bills. An average residential customer should expect approximately $1.81 in credit per month depending upon usage.
CURAD represents the interests of Arkansas’s utility customers in front of the Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. CURAD litigates on behalf of Arkansas ratepayers when utilities petition the Public Service Commission for rate increases, seek approval for sales or mergers, request permission to purchase or construct power and when the Commission initiates cases to establish customer service rules and other policies that affect ratepayers. To report any consumer-related issues to CURAD, contact the Arkansas Attorney General’s office at consumer@arkansasag.gov or visit ArkansasAG.gov.
Arkansas Public Service Commission Order
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves as co-chairs of the National Association of Attorneys General Veterans Affairs Committee, re-established and co-chairs the National Association of Attorneys General Committee on Agriculture and was the former Chairwoman of the National Association of Attorneys General
