Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 23-4-501 (2026)

Authority to recover costs through interim rate schedule

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaArk. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

1. Upon a proper filing with the Arkansas Public Service Commission, a public utility shall be permitted to recover in a prompt and timely manner all investments and expenses through an interim surcharge, if the investments or expenses:
  1. Are not currently being recovered in existing rates;
  2. Are reasonably incurred;
  3. Were not reasonably known and measurable at a time that allowed for a reasonable opportunity for the inclusion and consideration of the investments or expenses for recovery in the public utility's last general rate case;
  4. Are incurred by the public utility to comply with legislative or administrative rules or requirements;
  5. Relate to the protection of the public health, safety, or the environment;
  6. Cannot otherwise be recovered in a prompt and timely manner; and
  7. Are any of the following:
    1. Mandatory;
    2. A condition of continued operation of a utility facility; or
    3. Previously approved by the commission.
2. The interim surcharge shall be effective until the implementation of new rate schedules in connection with the next general rate filing of the public utility in which such investments or expenses can be included in the public utility's base rate schedule.
3. However, the costs to be recovered through such an interim surcharge described in subdivisions (a)(1) and (2) of this section shall not include increases in the cost for employment compensation or benefits as a result of legislative or regulatory action.
1. A public utility shall be permitted to recover, through an interim surcharge, the allowance for funds used during construction that would otherwise be accrued and capitalized that is incurred during the construction of facilities and equipment required for compliance with such legislative or administrative rules or requirements, provided that any such allowance for funds used during construction has not been capitalized or otherwise included in the utility's currently effective rates.
2. The public utility shall not capitalize or otherwise recover through rates any allowance for funds used during construction incurred in connection with investments described in subdivision (b)(1) of this section when the associated financing costs are included in an interim surcharge.

History. Acts 1981, No. 310, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 73-217.1; Acts 2015, No. 1000, § 2; 2019, No. 315, §§ 2393, 2394.

Amendments. The 2015 amendment substituted “Authority to recover costs through interim rate schedule” for “Legislative findings and intent” in the section heading; and rewrote the section.

The 2019 amendment deleted “regulations” following “rules” in (a)(1)(D) and (b)(1).

Case Notes

Construction.

This section speaks in terms of “additional expenses with respect to existing facilities” and recovery through an interim surcharge of “such costs,” and the court did not read the statute so broadly as to give the Arkansas Public Service Commission carte blanche authority to adopt and implement any public health or safety program of its choosing and assess the ratepayers for the cost (decided under former version of statute). Arkansas Gas Consumers, Inc. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 354 Ark. 37, 118 S.W.3d 109 (2003).

Factors.

Arkansas Public Service Commission erred in finding that a temporary surcharge implemented by a utility company complied with Acts 1981, No. 310; when an opposing party seeks disapproval of a surcharge based on any of the statutory factors in this section, the commission must make a finding as to such factors. McDaniel v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 2014 Ark. App. 529, 444 S.W.3d 380 (2014).

Low-Income Assistance Programs.

Surcharge statutes tie surcharges to existing facility costs and costs directly related to legislative or regulatory requirements, and there is no authority granted to the Arkansas Public Service Commission for the implementation of social programs; moreover; the same holds true of sliding-scale ratemaking where the statutory language of § 23-4-108 and Arkansas case law refer to costs associated with gas production and service to the ratepayers, not low-income assistance programs. Arkansas Gas Consumers, Inc. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 354 Ark. 37, 118 S.W.3d 109 (2003).

Cited: Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 301 Ark. 259, 783 S.W.2d 350 (1990).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1989–2020 · leading case: Arkansas Gas Consumers, Inc. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 118 S.W.3d 109 (Ark. 2003).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Arkansas Gas Consumers, Inc. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 118 S.W.3d 109 (Ark. 2003). · cites it 28× “Gas Consumers also argues that Act 310 of 1981, codified in part at Ark.Code Ann. §§ 23-4-501 and 502 (Repl.2002), which authorizes temporary surcharges, does not authorize the PSC to assess a surcharge against all ratepayers to provide funds for a low-income program like the…”

McDaniel v. Ark. Pub. Serv. Comm'n.1, 2014 Ark. App. 529 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 21× “Act 310 of 1981 Act 310, which is codified at Arkansas Code Annotated sections 23-4-501 to -509 (Repl. 2002), allows a utility to recover certain expenditures by imposing a surcharge on its customers outside the context of a general rate case.”

Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 770 S.W.2d 180 (Ark. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 8× “Sections 23-4-501 et seq. (1987) (Act 310 of 1981) for expenditures associated with asbestos removal from two of appellant’s buildings in Fort Smith, Arkansas.”

Arkansas Gas Consumers, Inc. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 91 S.W.3d 75 (Ark. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 16× “Act 310 of 1981, codified at Ark.Code Ann. §§ 23-4-501 through 23-4-509 (Repl.”

McDaniel v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 444 S.W.3d 380 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 13× “Act 310 of 1981 Act 310, which is codified at Arkansas Code Annotated sections 23-4-501 to -509 (Repl.2002), allows a utility to recover certain expenditures by imposing a surcharge on its customers outside the context of a general rate case.”

Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 783 S.W.2d 350 (Ark. 1990). · cites it 2× “Before making those renovations, however, appellant had all of the asbestos removed from each building. Appellant filed an interim rate schedule with appellee and imposed an interim surcharge to recover the costs of removing the asbestos pursuant to Ark.”

Sierra Club v. Entergy Arkansas Inc (E.D. Ark. 2020). · cites it 5× “Ark. Code Ann. § 23-4-501 (a)(1)-(2). This statute appears to allow a utility like Entergy to cause a rate increase by imposing an immediate surcharge on consumers to recover costs that meet each of the requirements above.”

Sierra Club v. Entergy Arkansas Inc (E.D. Ark. 2019). · cites it 4× “Ark. Code Ann. § 23-4-501 (a)-(b). This statute appears to allow a utility like Entergy to cause a rate increase by imposing an immediate surcharge on consumers to recover costs that meet each of the requirements above.”

— Ark. Code Ann. § 23-4-501(a)(1) — 1 case

Arkansas Gas Consumers, Inc. v. Arkansas Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 91 S.W.3d 75 (Ark. Ct. App. 2002). “Act 310 of 1981, codified at Ark.Code Ann. §§ 23-4-501 through 23-4-509 (Repl.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.