Attack on commission grossly unwarranted

I am compelled to respond to the diatribe by Democrat candidates for the Corporation Commission. I am not a candidate in this November's election, but the Democrat hit piece against the commission (and prior Democrat commissioners) carried dishonesty to a new level.

Here are the facts. The Arizona Constitution makes the commission responsible for ensuring reliable electricity service at a reasonable price. Arizona's summer heat imposes a stern test for system reliability. Arizona is a net importer of electricity and has for many years imported power from California and the Pacific Northwest in the summer.

The commission authorized new generation, with no ratepayer money and no ratepayer risk, to stabilize the grid, prevent blackouts and reduce rates. The success of this plan was demonstrated when California endured triple digit rate increases and rolling blackouts in 2000-01, and this summer when a fire destroyed major voltage transformers, our lights and air conditioners stayed on. And when power prices dropped in 2003 and plants went back to the banks, Arizona ratepayers were not on the hook!

The commission has taken unprecedented steps to protect the environment. For the first time ever, power plant applications were denied based on environmental considerations. The Arizona commission has imposed the strictest conditions on air quality and water usage ever associated with power plant construction.

Further, the commission required a number of power plants to be cooled by treated sewage water, rather than groundwater.

Arizonans are entitled to reliable and reasonably priced electricity and a clean environment, and this commission has delivered. We have refused to build unneeded or inappropriate facilities. Wall Street investors, not Arizona ratepayers, are on the hook for cost overruns and bad wholesale prices.

The Democrats, in their abject desperation to find an attack issue, inadvertently stumbled into the Corporation Commission's finest hour.

MARC SPITZER, CHAIRMAN
ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION