From the Yellow Sheet Report
Critics and proponents of electric retail had until Aug. 16 to counteract points raised by proponents, and the debate has been expectedly spirited and impassioned. Freeport-McMoRan and Arizonans for Electric Choice and Competition took up the mantle for the pro-deregulation side, arguing that pushing ahead with electric retail is not only legal, but is also the legislatively-stated preference, since competition laws created in the 1990s are still on the books, even if they’ve never been implemented.
Freeport-McMoRan and AECC also sought to debunk the argument that electric retail would put Arizona’s coal-powered plants out of business, calling it a “red herring.” Instead, the real threat to the Navajo Generating Station and the Four Corners Power Plant comes from the EPA and its environmental mandates, the deregulation proponents said.
Meanwhile, the Mohave Electric Cooperative, which serves Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, Mohave Valley, Wikieup, Hackberry, and Peach Springs, didn’t hold back in its comments to the Corporation Commission (ACC) warning the latter that jumping into deregulation exposes Arizona to a “trial balloon.” “Why would the Arizona Corporation Commission want to gamble and put into jeopardy what is today a vibrant, healthy and reliable Arizona electric utility system that delivers affordable electricity?” the co-op asked. The utility contended that no other Rocky Mountain state has ventured into deregulation, and more significantly, no “retail competition success story” exists.
Elsewhere on the blogosphere, HighGround also panned the current push for deregulation, saying Arizona has “been there and done that” and correctly halted its efforts after California’s bad experience.
