Arizona clamoring for competition

August 22, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Arizonans for Electric Choice & Competition (AECC) members and retail competition advocates Direct Energy, Noble Americas Energy Solutions and Constellation NewEnergy have filed comments with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) urging the commission to move forward with opening Arizona's electricity markets to competitive suppliers.

Currently, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) continues to deliberate the re-opening of competitive electricity markets in the state.

"As the discussion around opening Arizona's electricity market intensifies, many are busy crying wolf over how competition will impact the state, primarily the incumbent utilities," said Greg Bass, Director of Western Regulatory Affairs, Noble Solutions. "The comments we filed with the ACC last week clearly articulate competition's value based on the facts and the experience of over a decade of retail choice in other states. We look forward to participating in a regulatory process that separates truth from fiction, one which we are confident will lead to the opening of the state's electricity market to retail competition."

Seventeen states including Texas are open to retail electric competition. In fact, a recent J.D. Power survey revealed that customer satisfaction in the competitive Texas electricity market is at an all-time high and customers who participate in the competitive Texas market are more satisfied with their electricity prices than customers served by regulated utilities.

Low prices may be good news to customers, but deregulation can be bad news for utilities. The low rates in Texas have brought about a dearth of private investment in the Texas electricity power grid, creating new capacity concerns. In response, the wholesale electricity rate cap was raised with the goal of stimulating investment in new power plants.

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