Wyoming Regulators Take PacifiCorp Rate-Hike Win to Appeals Court

The original story by Joshua Wolfson for WyoFile.

Wyoming’s utility referees aren’t done fighting. The Public Service Commission has filed notice that it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that sided with PacifiCorp in a closely watched electric-rate case.

Lawyers for the PSC told the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver they’ll seek a reversal. The Wyoming Industrial Energy Consumers group — long a critic of PacifiCorp’s plan — filed its own notice, too. For now, these are just placeholders; the detailed arguments come later, and this fight likely runs into next year.

PacifiCorp, which does business here as Rocky Mountain Power, sued after state regulators slashed the utility’s original 29.2% request — a proposal that sparked heated public meetings. The 2023 case ultimately landed at a 5.5% general increase starting January 2024, plus two temporary fuel-cost bumps.

In court, PacifiCorp said the PSC trimmed the hike by ignoring federal requirements, costing the company $23 million. Industrial power users countered that the plan would’ve made Wyoming customers subsidize electricity for other states — a sore spot for some state leaders who say PacifiCorp is shifting too much of a regional grid’s costs onto Wyomingites.

The lawsuit never went to trial. US District Judge Kelly H. Rankin granted summary judgment for PacifiCorp, saying the facts weren’t in dispute.

Named in the suit were the Industrial Energy Consumers group and PSC Commissioners Christopher Petrie and Michael Robinson, along with then-Commissioner Mary Throne. Throne has since left the panel and been replaced by Chris Boswell, now also listed as a defendant.

The rate case may be decided — for now — but the bigger war over who pays for what on Wyoming’s power system is far from over.