Thud.... Let's wait, Arizona, until we are in the same situation as California.....

Link Electricity strategy questioned

Max Jarman The Arizona Republic May. 10, 2001

Consumer and environmental groups called Wednesday for a comprehensive assessment of the state's electricity market to determine the need for the 20 new power plants proposed for the state.

In presenting their request to the Arizona Corporation Commission, which has authority to approve the plants, the groups questioned Arizona's emerging role as a potential "energy farm" for California and expressed concerns about the state's air quality and groundwater supply.

"No one is minding the store while all these plants are being approved," said Tim Hogan, director of the Phoenix-based Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, one of 13 groups that requested the assessment.

Salt River Project spokesman Jeff Lane asserted the utility is expanding its plant to serve Arizona customers and not California. "Their concerns don't apply to us," Lane said.

Rick Moore, program officer with the Grand Canyon Trust in Flagstaff, noted the ACC once routinely assessed the state's energy needs and power supplies but that the process was stopped in 1997 when it moved to deregulate the power industry.

Commissioner Marc Spitzer said the panel is weighing the state's power needs and the environmental impacts of the plants, and recent approvals reflect that.

-- Rob McCarthy (celtic64@mindspring.com), May 10, 2001