No summer outage, APS, SRP say

Robbie Sherwood The Arizona Republic Jan. 31, 2001

The state's top utilities assured Gov. Jane Hull on Tuesday that Arizona will get through the sizzling summer with no power shortages.

Electric deregulation in Arizona has been more ordered and planned than in California, she said. But the market is stretched thin, and Hull is concerned about Golden State-like blackouts during the peak use season.

"It will be tight this summer, but we . . . will get through it and be able to serve our customers," said Dick Silverman, general manager of Salt River Project.

Officials with Arizona Public Service will add more than 500 megawatts of new generating capacity this summer.

"Power prices were high last summer, and we actually decreased prices," Chief Executive Officer Bill Post said. He added that more price decreases are expected.

New power stations and long-term contracts to buy power are expected to protect customers from wildly fluctuating prices.

Arizona utilities produce their own power, but buy from other states during peak summer months.

The federal government has not forced Arizona companies to sell power to California to alleviate problems there. But utilities have been selling excess wattage to the agency in California that sells power to that state's nearly bankrupt utilities.

This worries Hull.

"You don't continue to sell to someone who doesn't pay the bills," Hull said.

The utility leaders said California has not defaulted on any payments.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 31, 2001