AG Tim Griffin’s office engages on Entergy rate increase – but two years ago, it was a different story

It’s amazing how a (possible) run for governor can focus a man’s mind.

Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office is taking a hard line against a rate change requested by Entergy, with the office not only opposing any increase for the utility but actually demanding Entergy cut the rate it has been charging customers.

Entergy initially said it wanted a rate increase of $44.6 million. During negotiations, it dropped that to $29.2 million and then to zero. But that wasn’t enough in the eyes of the AG’s office.

At a two-day hearing at the Public Service Commission on the rate increase request, Doralee Chandler, deputy attorney general, cut to the chase in her opening arguments to the commission, saying that “not only was a rate increase inappropriate, resulting in unjust and unreasonable rates, but that a rate decrease was warranted.” 

While other interested parties have agreed to a settlement with Entergy and its rate request, the AG’s office has decidedly not, positioning the office as a bold defender of the public’s best interests.

Two short years ago, the same could not be said of the AG’s office, which, in a rate case brought by Summit Utilities, seemed unconcerned and out of touch.

In that case, the natural gas supplier was asking for almost a 30% increase. When negotiations got the Summit increase down to about 23%, Griffin happily signed off on it. But when legislators saw that number and hit the roof, Griffin tried to back away from the agreement he had signed onto.  It was too late.
An order entered by the Public Service Commission at the time said
Griffin had missed its deadline to object to the proposal, failed to identify anything objectionable in the settlement despite being given extra time to do so, and failed to establish good cause to delay proceedings any further, according to the Arkansas Times story.

The particulars are that on Oct. 7, 2024, Griffin applauded the settlement – a “unanimous joint Agreement,” according to commission documents, then, when the agreement was criticized, he slammed on the brakes and wrote another letter three days later asking the commission to reject the settlement and go back to the negotiating table.

Said the Public Service Commission:

The AG now wishes to oppose the Agreement despite having missed the deadline to do so, and without identifying any specific issue he now finds objectionable in the Agreement. Moreover, the AG has failed to file any testimony in opposition to the Agreement. Because of the impending statutorily mandated deadline for the Commission to issue its final rate determination and the AG’s failure to identify good cause for the Commission to extend the procedural schedule, the AG’s Motion to Set New Deadlines is denied.

And this:

The AG has failed to identify a single issue in the Agreement to which he is opposed and failed to file any testimony in opposition to the Agreement. As the AG notes in his Motion, whether or not he is a signatory to the Agreement is irrelevant to the Commission’s power to review and approve, reject, or modify the proposed Agreement, nor does the AG’s continued participation (or not) in the Agreement alter the hearing procedures that have been agreed to and will remain in place when the hearing is continued.

The commission also said Griffin would not be allowed to bring up any rate case issues during the hearing, cross-examine any of the witnesses or submit any testimony in opposition to the Agreement “given (his) failure to adhere to the procedural schedule in the Docket.”

The word lackadaisical comes to mind, with all of the above representing one giant own goal for the attorney general. And in the end, Summit’s rate increased by a jaw-dropping 23.4%, which amounted to more than $15 a month added to its customers’ bills.

Such a series of unfortunate – and avoidable – events do not look good on the resume of someone running for governor – as in, if you can’t keep up with one rate case and do right by the public in that small venue, how are you going to manage running a state government? – and indications are that Griffin will be doing just that in four years. Perhaps he is looking to do better this time around with Entergy as a way to make people forget what happened just over two years ago.