NAVAJO COUNTY — Sen. Carlyle Begay recently introduced Senate Bill 1506, which would allow county supervisors to form a power district upon the submittal of a petition signed by registered voters of the county.
“The energy infrastructure is non-existent, and if the EPA Clean Air Plan goes forward, it will create a negative economic impact on the state,” Begay said in an interview. “This bill is to start the conversation on what to do to meet the economic needs of my district and this state.”
The bill is being opposed by all utility companies in Arizona including Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power. APS responded to a request for comment with a one-sentence statement: “As the bill currently stands, we are opposed, as are the other utilities in the state.”
Begay knows the utility companies are against the bill and is not optimistic it will pass but will try again if it fails.
“The Arizona Corporation Commission has agreed to work with me and the Legislature on a study, a state of the state on energy infrastructure, and we will ask power companies to come up with ideas,” he said.
He wants to expand utility infrastructure to rural areas. “The future of Arizona is dependent on a partnership with rural areas.”
The bill would enable counties to decide for themselves if creating a power district is a good idea.
“The County Board of Supervisors shall hold at least three public meetings to determine whether it is in the best interests of the county to provide for redundancy in furnishing electrical power for retail, commercial, agricultural, industrial and manufacturing uses in the county,” the bill says.
It also states that the supervisors would serve as the board of directors of the power district and would not be eligible for additional compensation, but would be eligible for reimbursement of expenses in carrying out the business of the power district. The county would not be able to levy a tax or spend money in support of the district.
Snowflake Mayor Tom Poscharsky favors the bill and said there is a private firm that is ready and willing to invest in a solar power company that would be backed by state-of-the-art gas turbines.
“I am not ready to say that we should go ahead with the project, but my due diligence based on my experience with public power indicates that this is a big potential blessing for the economic future of all of Navajo County that we cannot afford to have taken away from us by APS,” Poscharsky said.
“We need to support the passage of this bill to allow Navajo County time to determine if this is what the county needs. Under the bill the county will need to authorize a private power corporation before it can proceed and that will be the appropriate time to get all input on the issue. We do not need entrenched lobbyists killing the bill.”
Poscharsky attended a meeting with Supervisor Jason Whiting and a member of the private power company SEC in mid-December. He said he was skeptical at first of their proposal which would put in a major underground truck line with fiber optic as well as broadband for better Internet service.
Whiting said he was encouraged and excited about the opportunity to bring jobs and infrastructure to the county.
“The path forward lies with the Legislature, and if this bill passes, the county will have to understand its liabilities and responsibilities, but I welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation,” Whiting said.
Skyler Careaga, chief executive officer of the Phoenix-based SEC Power Corp., said in an interview that though his company doesn’t yet have a similar power plant up and running, he has been working on the project for six years and has the acreage needed north of Snowflake. His company is currently working on a bid to install the system at a naval base that is very interested.
“There are seven other systems similar to ours already in existence and we have four other engineering groups working with our technicians,” Careaga said.
The company has the financing to spend $259 million on the initial construction and another $227 million for the lines. The major power line would be run from Winslow to Pinetop, be buried nine feet in the ground, encased in copper pipe and would have a fiber trunk line run down the middle of the line.
“The power fluctuation that the utility companies have causes wear and tear on the electrical infrastructure,” Careaga said. “This wouldn’t happen with our system.”
The plant would produce 205 megawatts of power, which would power most buildings in the county and would have the capacity of generating 500 megawatts, which would “power everybody.”
The gas turbines are made in Europe and capable of producing 197 megawatts of power each and would be a backup for the solar panels. Careaga plans to offer the power at 10 cents a kilowatt hour, which is far less than the rates of other utilities There would be low emissions and low water use from the system, he said.
He also estimates the county would save $30,000 to $50,000 a year on its utility prices if it should use his power and would see an increase in tax revenue.
SEC spokesperson Russ Trumble said though its the first plant of its kind, the technology has already been proven.
“SEC would sell retail power directly to the consumer and other utility companies could buy power from SEC,” Trumble said. “Utility companies don’t have disaster plans and redundancy. This would solve that.”
Poscharsky believes the private power company is vital for the county and would bring in more jobs and investments, as well as other industries to the area.
Careaga said the plant would have 200 permanent jobs with others needed on a contracting basis and the company would buy as much of its supplies as possible from local businesses.
“It’s very important to understand that this bill is not deregulation,” Careaga said. “It’s about community choice. If the community comes together to ask for this option, we want them to have it. Local control, it’s as simple as that.”
The bill first has to pass and no one is sure if that will happen due to the major lobbying efforts against it by the utility industries.
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