Reuters
Power company Arizona Public Service (APS) hopes to close its deal to buy Southern California Edison’s (SCE) interest in the Four Corners coal plant in New Mexico by the end of the year, Damon Gross, a spokesman for APS, said Monday.
In a federal filing Friday, APS, the main subsidiary of energy holding company Pinnacle West Capital Corp (PNW.N), said it was able to move forward with the SCE deal now that utility regulators in Arizona voted to stop exploring a possible deregulation of the state’s power market.
When the Arizona Corporate Commission decided to look at power deregulation again in May, APS said it could not close on its agreement to buy SCE’s 48 percent interest in two units at Four Corners due to uncertain market conditions.
Most other states that deregulated their electric markets forced local utilities to sell their power plants or set up competitive generation units.
This was not the first time Arizona contemplated deregulating the power market. The state planned to open its market to competition in the late 1990s when other states implemented their retail markets.
If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, director of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com
