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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 19, 2007
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Exact Name of Registrant as Specified |
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in Charter; State of Incorporation; |
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IRS Employer |
Commission File Number |
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Address and Telephone Number |
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Identification Number |
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1-8962
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Pinnacle West Capital Corporation
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86-0512431 |
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(an Arizona corporation) |
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400 North Fifth Street, P.O. Box 53999 |
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Phoenix, AZ 85072-3999 |
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(602) 250-1000 |
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1-4473
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Arizona Public Service Company
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86-0011170 |
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(an Arizona corporation) |
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400 North Fifth Street, P.O. Box 53999 |
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Phoenix, AZ 85072-3999 |
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(602) 250-1000 |
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Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy
the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
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Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
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Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b)) |
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c)) |
This combined Form 8-K is separately filed by Pinnacle West Capital Corporation and Arizona
Public Service Company. Each registrant is filing on its own behalf all of the information
contained in this Form 8-K that relates to such registrant and, where required, its subsidiaries.
Except as stated in the preceding sentence, neither registrant is filing any information that does
not relate to such registrant, and therefore makes no representation as to any such information.
Item 8.01. Other Events
APS General Rate Case and Power Supply Adjustor
On June 19, 2007, the Arizona Corporation Commission (the ACC) voted to approve, with
certain modifications, the recommended order of the ACC administrative law judge (ALJ) in
connection with (a) Arizona Public Service Companys (APS) general retail rate case and (b) APS
application to recover through a surcharge approximately $45 million of deferrals, plus accrued
interest, under its power supply adjustor (PSA) related to unplanned 2005 Palo Verde outages.
See ALJ Recommended Order in Note 5 of Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in
the Pinnacle West Capital Corporation/APS Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter
ended March 31, 2007 (Note 5) for additional information regarding the recommended order. The
following discussion addresses key aspects of the ACC decision. The ACC is expected to issue a
written order reflecting the decision in the near future.
The ACC decision will result in a net retail rate increase of 6.8% for APS. The decision
includes a 15.1% base rate increase effective July 1, 2007, which will be partially offset by the
concurrent termination of the interim PSA adjustor that represented an 8.3% increase. The interim
PSA adjustor was approved May 1, 2006 to recover a portion of APS fuel and purchased power costs
deferred under the PSA; accordingly, the interim adjustor did not affect earnings. See Interim
Rate Increase in Note 5 for additional information regarding the interim PSA adjustor.
The ACC decision increases APS annual retail base revenues by approximately $322 million
(15.1%) which includes a fuel-related increase of approximately $315 million and non-fuel related
increases of approximately $7 million. The base rate increase is premised on a return on equity of
10.75%; a 45%/55% long-term debt/common equity capital structure; a weighted-average cost of
capital of 8.32%; an original cost rate base of $4.4 billion; and a base rate for fuel and
purchased power costs of $0.0325 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (the Base Fuel Rate).
The ACC decision approves various modifications to the PSA, effective July 1, 2007. The
modified PSA will now use a forward-looking estimate of fuel and purchased power costs (instead of
historical deferred costs) to set an annual adjustor rate that will be reconciled to actual costs
experienced for each PSA Year (February 1 through January 31). The PSA will include (a) a Forward
Component, under which APS will recover or refund differences between expected PSA Year fuel and
purchased power costs and those embedded in the Base Fuel Rate; (b) an Historical Component,
under which the differences between the PSA Years actual fuel and purchased power costs and those
recovered through the combination of the Base Fuel Rate and the Forward Component are recovered
during the next PSA Year; and (c) a Transition Component under which APS may seek mid-year PSA
changes due to large variances between actual fuel and purchased power costs and the combination of
the Base Fuel Rate and the Forward Component. The Base Fuel Rate established in the decision
reflects projected 2007 fuel and purchased power costs. As a result, the Forward Component for
the PSA Year ending January 31, 2008 will be zero. The decision also provides that the PSA
adjustor that took effect on February 1, 2007 ($0.004 per kWh), and that was scheduled to expire on
January 31, 2008, will remain in effect as long as necessary after January 31, 2008 to collect an
additional $46 million of fuel and purchased power costs deferred as a result of the mid-year
implementation of the new Base Fuel Rate.
Other changes to the PSA include the following: (a) the 90/10 sharing arrangement under which
APS absorbs 10% of retail fuel and purchased power costs above the Base Fuel Rate and retains 10%
of the benefit below the Base Fuel Rate has been modified to exclude certain costs, including
renewable energy resources and the capacity components of long-term purchase power agreements
acquired through competitive procurement; (b) the cumulative plus or minus $0.004 per kWh limit
from the base fuel
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amount over the life of the PSA was eliminated, while the maximum plus or minus $0.004 per kWh
limit to changes in the adjustor rate in any one year remains in effect; and (c) there is not an
annual limit on the amount of fuel and purchased power costs that may be recovered through base
rates and the PSA.
The ACC did not adopt APS recommendations related to accelerated depreciation, inclusion of
construction work in progress in rate base, and an attrition adjustment.
The ACC decision related to the PSA cost deferrals for unplanned 2005 Palo Verde outages (a)
disallows approximately $14 million, including accrued interest, ($8 million after income taxes) of
such deferrals and (b) approves APS recovery of the balance of such deferrals (approximately $34
million, including accrued interest) through a temporary PSA surcharge over a twelve-month period
effective July 1, 2007. The decision also requires APS and the ACC staff to develop a set of
nuclear performance standards for the ACC to consider in a separate proceeding.
The decision approves an environmental improvement surcharge (EIS) to recover capital costs
incurred for environmental improvements made by APS in compliance with federal and state laws or
regulatory requirements. The EIS will be set initially at $0.00016 per kWh designed to produce
approximately $4.5 million cash per year until further order of the ACC.
Following the ACCs issuance of a written order in this matter, each party to the proceeding
will have twenty days to file a motion for reconsideration of the order.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each registrant has duly
caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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PINNACLE WEST CAPITAL CORPORATION
(Registrant)
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Dated: June 20, 2007 |
By: |
/s/ Donald E. Brandt
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Donald E. Brandt |
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Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer |
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ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
(Registrant)
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Dated: June 20, 2007 |
By: |
/s/ Donald E. Brandt
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Donald E. Brandt |
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President and Chief Financial Officer |
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