by Jeff Caldwell | Oct 9, 2023 | Opinion
By Jeff Caldwell |
Radical Leftists and solar panel companies are freaking out over the upcoming Arizona Corporation Commission meeting on Wednesday, October 11 at 10:00am! But, based on the available public comments, they are the only ones who have contacted the Corporation Commission to express their desired actions regarding what’s on the agenda.
Currently, Arizona regulations force utility companies in the state to buy the extra solar power each solar customer puts into the grid. The Arizona Corporation Commission sets the rates that utility companies pay those customers.
On Wednesday, the Corporation Commission could vote to change the amount utility companies pay to match the break-even cost of the companies. This would reduce the vast majority of Arizonans’ energy bills.
In 2007, the Corporation Commission implemented a policy that required utility companies to pay retail price of solar power to their customers who put solar power back into the grid.
Those customers are still getting that rate today, even though the price of solar power has decreased tremendously over time. The customers are locked into that amazing deal for 20 years from the date of installation.
The 2007 policy ended in 2016 when the Corporation Commission decided utility companies should pay wholesale pricing to customers. However, there was a “great negotiation” between those who wanted the policy to remain in place—the Radical Left & solar power companies—and the Corporation Commission. The new policy implemented allowed for a maximum of only a 10% reduction in the price utility companies pay these customers every year. Since 2016, customers are locked into the rate they are paid for 10 years from the date of installation. Oh, and yes, those customers who installed solar panels between 2007-2016 are still locked in to get paid retail pricing for 20 years from the date of installation.
Because the maximum reduction of the rate utility companies pay to solar power customers who give to the grid is only 10% per year, there is still a huge discrepancy between the true wholesale solar power price and the rate utility companies are forced to pay these customers.
APS calculates their “Avoided Cost” at almost $0.05. This means APS would nearly break even on paying five cents per kWh to solar panel customers giving power to the grid. However, APS is forced to pay nearly $0.09 per kWh. For ten years, APS has to pay this rate to every solar panel customer who gives power to the grid, even though solar power is more than likely going to continue to fall.
The Arizona Corporation Commission sets the maximum profit rate of utility companies. APS’ is set at 8.7%. Being forced to pay customers more for their energy than the break-even cost causes utility companies to charge customers who do not have solar and are not giving to the grid a higher price for energy to meet profits.
If APS is allowed to truly match wholesale pricing for all solar panel customers giving to the grid and pay each one of them just under five cents per kWh, APS would be forced to cut the cost of energy for all of their customers, use the extra funds left over to reinvest, and/or expand its energy providing capabilities.
That’s why, if you really believe in clean energy or just want cheaper utility bills, it’s important to make your voice heard by speaking up, giving public comments, or submitting written public comments.
Right now, the only folks who have been doing so are those who own solar panels and don’t want their pay to decrease or solar panel companies who may face tougher economic hardship. But all customers deserve a say in our state’s energy prices both now—and in the future.
Jeff Caldwell currently helps with operations at EZAZ.org. He is also a Precinct Captain, State Committeeman, and Precinct Committeeman in Legislative District 2. Jeff is a huge baseball fan who enjoys camping and exploring new, tasty restaurants! You can follow him on X here.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 9, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
The Arizona Corporation Commission is adding a seasoned professional to its staffing ranks.
This week, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) announced that it had appointed Ed Block to be the new Chief Information Officer. The release from the ACC introduced its new hire as someone “with over 25 years of experience in portfolio, program and project management,” bringing “a wealth of knowledge and a proven track record in delivering complex systems and software solutions.”
According to the ACC, Block “was the first to get a state agency on the cloud, with extensive experience in various sectors including Education, Learning Management Systems, Banking/Fraud-detection, and Cloud and Infrastructure management. As a certified Scrum Master, he has been at the forefront of utilizing Agile methodologies along with Hybrid and Waterfall approaches since 2004. His collaborative leadership style focuses on asking the right questions and gathering the right data to drive both strategic and tactical directions for progressive solutions.”
The ACC’s release shared information about what Block would be doing with his new job, starting with overseeing “the development and maintenance of software solutions, network systems availability and security, data storage and retention, IT hardware and software purchases, and the administration of the IT budget.”
In his previous role at the Arizona Department of Education, Block accomplished the following:
- Saved over $500K through early completion and resource optimization
- Migrated and modernized extensive data storage to Microsoft Azure cloud platform
- Reduced monthly Azure costs by $40K
- Implemented Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Teams for 685 staff
- Improved system recovery times by 70%
Block’s bio includes being an avid DIY enthusiast and a proud grandfather, working on a pool pump house, and planning to restore his 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto.
The ACC highlighted Block’s belief “in empowering people” as well as “a leadership approach that fosters innovation and team collaboration,” adding that his “multifaceted experience and commitment to innovation make him an invaluable addition to the Arizona Corporation Commission.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Aug 11, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
On Tuesday, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) announced that it “joined a multi-state settlement with Robinhood Financial LLC, which will pay up to $10.2 million in penalties for operational failures that harmed main street investors.”
According to the ACC, “the investigation was sparked by Robinhood platform outages in March 2020, a time when hundreds of thousands of investors were relying on the Robinhood app to make trades. In addition, prior to March 2021, there were deficiencies at Robinhood in its review and approval process for options and margin accounts, weaknesses in the firm’s monitoring and reporting tools, and insufficient customer service and escalation protocols that in some cases left Robinhood users unable to process trades even as the value of certain stocks was dropping.”
The investigation was led by “state securities regulators in Alabama, Colorado, California, Delaware, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Texas coordinated through the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) regarding Robinhood’s operational failures with respect to the retail market.”
NASAA President Andrew Hartnett issued the following statement in conjunction with the announcement: “Today’s multistate agreement represents states at their best – working together for the benefit of Main Street investors. Robinhood repeatedly failed to serve its clients, but this settlement makes clear that Robinhood must take its customer care obligations seriously and correct these deficiencies.”
ACC Chairman Jim O’Connor also added, “This agreement is part of an ongoing effort by state securities regulators to protect investors and to make sure they are treated fairly by their financial services companies.”
The ACC’s news release made clear that “the Commission found no evidence of willful or fraudulent conduct by Robinhood, and that Robinhood fully cooperated with the investigation.” Also, “Robinhood neither admitted nor denied the findings as set out in the states’ orders.”
One of the findings of fact in the order before the ACC was that “Robinhood acquired approximately 89,136 new Arizona customers from October 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, for a total customer count of approximately 290,356 as of March 31, 2020. From October 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, Robinhood approved approximately 13,713 Arizona customers for option trading and approximately 1,934 Arizona customers for margin trading.”
The ACC’s release highlighted these violations as included in the order:
- Negligent dissemination of inaccurate information to customers, including regarding margin and risk associated with multi-leg option spreads.
- Failure to have a reasonably designed customer identification program.
- Failure to supervise technology critical to providing customers with core broker-dealer services.
- Failure to have a reasonably designed system for dealing with customer inquiries.
- Failure to exercise due diligence before approving certain option accounts.
- Failure to report all customer complaints to FINRA and state securities regulators, as may be required.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 5, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanksi |
Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kevin Thompson announced the successful inclusion of top-line priorities in the recently signed budget for the state – negotiated between Republican legislators and Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs. While Hobbs apparently failed to incorporate some main requests for same-party officials in the Attorney General’s and Secretary of State’s offices, many Republicans around the state, including Thompson, were more than pleased with their budget advances.
In an Instagram post, Thompson revealed the following budget gains for the Corporation Commission:
- “$6M in new dedicated funds to increase staffing levels and increase employee salaries by 10%.
- Another $7M in one-time funding to replace the Commission’s outdated business filing computer system, which will help improve the overall customer experience for Arizona’s 1.3M active LLC’s and another 578,000 active corporations registered in our state.”
Thompson also ensured that these wins were fiscally responsible, adding that the funding was secured “using existing Commission funding streams, incurring no additional expense for the taxpayer.”
The freshman commissioner noted the difficulty of this accomplishment, sharing that “many scoffed at the idea of our ambitious supplemental budget request” due to the fact that “the Commission hadn’t received new dollars from the legislature in years.”
This action was a priority of Thompson’s – and his fellow freshman Commissioner, Nick Myers – since they were sworn into office in January. In his inauguration speech, Thompson promised to pursue increased funding for Corporation Commission staff, saying, “With that, I want to immediately work to bring our staffing levels back to where they should be, and secure the livable wages our hardworking public servants deserve. We can’t continue to do more to service the public with less and expect our employees to have quality of life in this economy. I will work with our Executive Director and legislature to seek an increase in our annual budget and improve salaries for our employees. We have to keep pace with other state agency employee pay.”
Not only did this funding not add any more dollars to the state’s general fund, it will certainly help Arizona ratepayers and those who interact with the Corporation Commission – as Thompson highlighted in his recent social media post: “One of the significant consequence of being understaffed and under-resourced is that Arizona has consistently ranked in the bottom tier nationally in processing utility rate cases—it takes fifty percent longer to process a rate case in Arizona – resulting in delays to build new generation and replace critical infrastructure, driving up ratepayer costs and further destabilizing our regulatory and investment climate.”
Thompson also praised Myers, who ran as a team with him in 2022, for his co-labors in securing new funding for the Commission. Thompson’s and Myers’ November victories kept Sandra Kennedy and Lauren Kuby from those seats, which would have given the Democrats control of the Commission. According to an official Corporation Commission release, House and Senate Appropriations Chairs David Livingston and John Kavanagh were applauded for their leadership roles in making the funding a reality during the legislative process.
Commissioner Thompson has quickly made himself into a reliable conservative voice and figure for Arizona Republicans, which hasn’t been too hard due to the scarcity of statewide Republican officials. Still, Thompson’s record at the Mesa City Council and (now) at the Arizona Corporation Commission could lead to a significant promotion in the 2026 state contests – especially as he works with his Republican colleagues to stop Democrats from transforming Arizona’s energy policies.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Jan 26, 2022 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) struck down rule changes advancing renewable energy usage that would’ve increased the cost to taxpayers. The energy mandates would have required energy utilities to rely more on renewable energies following a certain timeline, which would have increased the revenue requirements of Arizona Public Service Company (APS) by nearly $4 billion and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) by nearly $1.13 billion — costs which taxpayers would’ve borne, as high as 43 to 58 percent more monthly.
These were energy mandates similar to those rejected by voters in the failed Proposition 127 of 2018, which would have required electric utility companies to acquire a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable resources each year, from 12 percent in 2020 to 50 percent in 2030. About 68 percent of voters rejected Proposition 127.
Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson joined commissioners Jim O’Connor and Justin Olson in their “no” votes against the rule changes. Commissioners Anna Tovar and Sandra Kennedy voted for the rules.
https://www.facebook.com/CorpCommAZ/videos/461238372124019/
APS, TEP, and the Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association (GCSECA) all expressed support for the rule changes.
O’Connor said that the utilities are “serious and sincere” with their clean energy efforts. He said that the utilities don’t need rules from the state, especially since they will pose risks to ratepayers.
“The proposed energy rules represent a multi-year, good-faith effort by a great many. During this long process and after years of opposition, our state’s major electric utilities have embraced clean energy and our proposed rules. I was surprised and I made it the focus of my efforts to understand that turnaround,” said O’Connor. “I have concluded its best for the utilities to remain in charge of their resource plans just as they have in the past and it is better for the commission to continue to rely on its prudent standard for holding utilities accountable for the resource decisions and their costs.”
Tovar said the commissioners should be ashamed that they wasted years of staff and commission work from “getting in the way of what is right.” Tovar called out two of the commissioners, O’Connor and Peterson, for “flip-flopping” on their stance concerning the rules. She lamented that commissioners weren’t willing to compromise, like she claimed she had, for the greater good: economic growth, health, and environmentalism through these rule changes. Tovar added that the rule changes had diverse, bipartisan support statewide.
“What this tells me is that these rules are failing because of politics. And basing our votes on politics is a dangerous game, and it is a dangerous game to play with something so important to Airzona’s future. Ensuring clean energy in Arizona is our future, and it’s one of the top priorities I had even before running for this commission. When I took office, I wanted to change the rules. Make them more aggressive. Get us to a clean future, sooner. But I looked at the fads and I knew there was much work to be done on them,” said Tovar. “Let me be clear: this isn’t the Green New Deal. This is Arizona’s clean energy package and [I am] very proud of the work that has been accomplished thus far.”
Olson expressed confidence that renewable energy was still attainable without costing customers more. He also mentioned how he attempted to compromise by introducing amendments that would help reduce the cost to taxpayers with passage of the energy rules. Olson indicated that Tovar’s characterization of commissioners switching votes was unfair because their change reflected new information that came to light.
“We as a commission should have a very clear policy that tells our utilities that they should invest in the technologies that are the most cost-effective method of meeting the energy demands of our customers. And what we have before us in these energy rules is not that,” said Olson. “That is the appropriate demand. That is what the constitution requires of us to expect of our utilities, and that is what we should continue to pursue. That does not prohibit us and our utilities from increasing the amount of renewable energy resources that our utilities use to provide the energy for their customers. In fact, it creates a win-win scenario where our utilities will be investing in the renewable energy projects that are the most cost-effective. We can benefit rate bearers and adopt these technologies at the same time. That’s the approach we should take.”
Kennedy said that clean energy was cost-effective with modern technology. She asserted that it wasn’t possible to determine future outcomes based on present actions.
Márquez Peterson said she supported clean energy by 2050, but an equal priority for her was affordability for consumers. Márquez Peterson expressed confidence that utilities had turned a corner and were willing to adopt clean energy of their own volition.
“It took years to get actual cost data that consumers have been asking for,” said Márquez Peterson. “I believe utilities should be justly and reasonably rewarded when they make prudent and proactive investments in the next generation of clean and renewable energy resources, so long as they don’t jeopardize the safety and reliability of the grid or the affordability of rates.”
In a statement to AZ Free News, Justin Olson asserted that the commission’s vote respected the will of voters.
“First of all this is a tremendous victory for ratepayers. I fought to enact policies to make rates as affordable as possible. Many times I was a lone voice crying at the wilderness — I was the only vote against these mandates,” said Olson. “This was the commission telling the utilities that they must invest in technologies that are the most cost-effective method of generating energy.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
