Governor asks commission to pass on tax cut by lowering utility rates for Arkansas customers

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday sent a letter to the Public Service Commission requesting that it take steps to pass on the benefits of the recently passed corporate tax cut by lowering utility rates for Arkansas customers.

President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law in December, reducing corporate tax rates and "thereby cutting a cost that is charged to Arkansas ratepayers," Hutchinson wrote in a letter addressed to Ted Thomas, chairman of the commission đź“„.

Hutchinson asked to commission to "take whatever steps are necessary to pass the benefit of the corporate tax cut to Arkansas families and businesses in the form of lower utility rates.”

The governor noted utilities in the state have a monopoly "on providing electricity and natural gas services to Arkansas’s families and businesses."

"Arkansas law allows utility providers to charge rates that recover the cost of providing utility service plus a rate of return on investment," Hutchinson wrote. "Federal income taxes paid by the utility are one such cost.”

Upcoming Events