ACC Hopefuls Debate Other Energy

ACC Hopefuls Debate Other Energy

Nov 12 - Arizona Daily Star

TEMPE - Arizona Corporation Commission hopeful Carl Seel wants to scrap the requirement for Arizona utilities to generate at least 1.1 percent of their power from alternative sources.

Seel, at a debate Tuesday, said there is nothing wrong with encouraging the use of solar, biomass, geothermal or even sewer gas to generate electricity. But he said a state mandate essentially forces consumers to pay more for power.

The idea met with a sharp rebuke from incumbent Kris Mayes, who faces off against Seel in September's Republican primary.

Mayes wants to go in the other direction and increase the amount of electricity that utilities have to generate from renewable sources.

She acknowledged that some forms of alternative energy -notably solar - are more expensive than electricity now generated largely through coal, natural gas and nuclear power. And she said the costs, now borne in part by the power companies, eventually would have to be passed on to customers.

But Mayes said that cost is so minimal that Arizonans have shown a willingness to go along.

During the hourlong debate, Seel also said Arizona should consider pushing utilities to build two more units at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix. He said only three units have been constructed on the site, which was approved for five, and the state needs more diversity in its sources of power.

Mayes dismissed that as "absurd," saying there is no interest by any power company in new nuclear plants.

The commission voted 4-1 in January to require that 1.1 percent of all electricity come from renewable resources by 2007. It also mandated that 60 percent of that come from solar.

That was an outgrowth of the original commission decision four years ago to force power companies to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear power. At that time the regulators set the goal of 0.8 percent renewable resources by this year.

To help offset the higher costs of renewable energy, utilities are entitled to charge one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour to each customer's bill, up to a maximum of 35 cents a month for residential customers and $13 a month for most businesses.

Seel said that kind of government mandate is unwarranted.

Instead, he said, the commission should encourage utilities to invest in research and development.

"If we regulate them and say you have to buy this percentage of alternate power, no matter what the cost is, and then you have to switch it off and bear it on the ratepayer, I'm not excited about that type of concept," he said.

Mayes said the environmental portfolio requirement "is one of the most successful programs of its kind in the United States."

She wants to boost the mandate, perhaps to the point where up to 15 percent of all electricity generated in Arizona comes from renewable resources. Mayes said that action would help decrease the cost per kilowatt hour as more companies invest in alternative energy technology.

The pair did agree that utility regulations should be changed to encourage individual homeowners and businesses to install their own solar energy devices by requiring utility companies to purchase the excess electricity generated.

Mayes was named last year by Gov. Janet Napolitano to the vacancy on the commission created after Jim Irvin resigned amid a House impeachment probe. Law requires her to seek re-election now for the remaining two years on Irvin's term.

For far more extensive news on the energy/power visit: http://www.energycentral.com .