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Source: Tulsa World, Okla.迷你倉Jan. 18--AEP-PSO, the state's second-largest utility company, announced Friday that it will seek a $45 million base rate increase that could raise the average customer's electric bill by about $4 per month.Tulsa-based American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma filed the request with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. State regulators and AEP-PSO have about 180 days to argue the rate case, but utility officials said they are willing to delay the new rate until late this year, after the summer on-peak pricing season."This case includes PSO's plan to provide advanced, digital metering infrastructure for all of our customers across the state, which provides more options and information for customers to manage their energy use," AEP-PSO President and Chief Operating Officer Stuart Solomon said in a press release.Solomon estimated that the utility has made more than $500 million worth of investments in infrastructure since 2010. AEP-PSO's last base rate case, which resulted in zero revenue gain, was settled in 2011.AEP-PSO's rate case likely will have its foes. Advocacy groups such as the AARP and Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers historically have fought rate increases proposed by utilities such as AEP-PSO, OG&E and Oklahoma Natural Gas."AARP Oklahoma will be intervening in this rate case and fighting to ensure that PSO receives only what is fair and reasonable," AARP Oklahoma Associate Director Dusty Darr said in a statement. "We will thorself storageughly review today's filing and continue advocating for affordable utilities on behalf of Oklahoma ratepayers."AEP-PSO announced last year that it will replace all of its 520,000 meters statewide with smart meters by 2016. That will cost about $120 million, according to reports.The $45 million would be an annual increase in rate revenues. If the rate request is approved as filed Friday, the average bill would rise $3.97 per month for customers using 1,000 kilowatts hours, AEP-PSO spokesman Stan Whiteford estimated.Residential customer rates would be 8.84 cents per kilowatt hour, which Whiteford said is 26.91 percent lower than the national average. The overall price per kilowatt hour, including commercial and industrial customers, would be 7.18 cents, nearly 29 percent below the U.S. norm."Even with this modest price increase, amounting to about one percent per year since our last base rate increase, PSO's rates remain among the lowest in the United States," Solomon said.AEP-PSO provides power to about 530,000 customers statewide, including Tulsa and much of eastern Oklahoma.Rod Walton 918-581-8457rod.walton@tulsaworld.comRecent AEP-PSO rate casesDate Settled ResultFeb. 2, 2005 $6.9 million base rate reductionOct. 9, 2007 $9.8 million base rate increaseJan. 14, 2009 $81.4 million base rate increaseJan. 5, 2011 Zero revenue settlementCopyright: ___ (c)2014 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷利倉