The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
In Arizona we may take for granted that when we turn on our air conditioners during the hot summer months that it will come on to keep us cool. That our lights will always come on to light our way. And in the cool desert evenings we will have reliable heating whether from natural gas or electric furnaces.
But this November, electing the wrong person as your next Corporation Commissioner could jeopardize what we have come to value in our reliable energy grid and affordable electricity prices.
Ideology versus RealityIdealogues would drive our state to decarbonize our electric generation before technology can support it. The Democrats running for Corporation Commission have publicly stated their commitment, if elected, to drive Arizona to 100% renewables by 2030.
They fail to understand what that would do to our electric grid, namely relying on intermittent, unreliable power could result in rolling blackouts. We need look no further than California and Texas to see what results from such a short-sighted approach.
The key to successful transition to an all-renewable electricity generation is storage—battery storage that can store the harnessed energy from wind and solar and release it when those sources go offline. But currently battery storage is in its infancy, lasting at most around three hours and not of the utility scale necessary to support renewable deployment of even 45%.
Many barriers must first be addressed beyond the necessary advancement of the technology itself, including but not limited to diversifying the supply chain (currently China is the predominant source of minerals needed for advanced battery technology) and lifecycle management that can safely dispose of these batteries at their end of life. Ensuring Arizona has an “all of the above” approach to electric generation sources that include nuclear, natural gas, renewables, and new technologies like hydrogen, removes potential risks of grid failure from any one type of generation, while ensuring the utilities are generating electricity using the least cost.
Kevin and Nick will protect Arizonans by standing up against failed California-style policies that have de-stabilized their electric grid, driven up their utility costs, and resulted in rolling blackouts.
Improving the Regulatory Climate Lowers Utility BillsArizona’s regulatory climate ranks at the bottom of the 50 states. Years of the Commission issuing conflicting rules, re-opening rate cases, and taking 50% longer than other states to decide rate cases has resulted in driving utility bills higher for Arizonans.
One of the Democrat candidates this cycle is an incumbent who has played a major role in destabilizing our regulatory climate. Consistently the legal fees spent by any utility to file a rate case with the Commission have exacerbated and added cost to the overall capital dollars spent on infrastructure. This means that our consumers are paying more than it should cost for the utility to improve its systems because, under the law, these fees are recoverable. Additionally, a rate of return that the utilities are guaranteed equates on average 8-10% on top of that.
It is unacceptable that the Commission’s inefficiencies are costing our ratepayers. Further, our utilities borrow money from banking institutions to build new generation and improve their infrastructure like replacing pipeline and transmission lines. Yet because Arizona has such a poor regulatory climate, banks are reluctant to lend monies to our utilities, and if they do they charge higher interest rates to our utilities than they do for utilities in other states — whether electric, water or natural gas — which means that higher interest rate is passed onto our consumers.
Kevin and Nick will focus on improving the investment climate by making the Commission more efficient in its decision making, not re-opening decided cases, and by improving the process to file a rate case so that our smaller utilities, especially the 300 smaller water companies, can file a rate case without the need for a plethora of lawyers, accountants and consultants which burden the process and result in all of those costs being passed right back to our ratepayers.
Responsible Leadership Is CriticalArizona needs responsible, experienced leadership in the Corporation Commission to ensure we maintain a strong and reliable energy grid and affordable energy and water. Kevin and Nick have a combined 30 years of experience in the regulatory and utility trenches.
With soaring prices at the pump, at the grocery stores, with increasing rents, and higher prices being charged for everyday items we depend upon, the last thing you need to worry about is the cost of your utility bill.
The easiest way to protect you is to ensure the utilities are held responsible and are providing us the cheapest form of energy that can be generated. Eliminating mandates and rebates—two things that drive up energy costs the fastest—and improving the regulatory climate to create efficient processes and decision making will help ensure we keep our energy grid reliable and our utility bills affordable.
Electing Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers this Nov. 8 will put the experienced leadership at the Corporation Commission that Arizonans need and deserve.
