APS Pulls Out the Stops to Stop Competition

Arizona Public Service is afraid of competition and is using extraordinary measures to stop it from coming to their electricity empire. Not content to let the elected Corporation Commissioners act in the best of Arizona consumers, APS is pressuring local businesses and non-profits to support the anti-deregulation movement. And APS has a lot of influence in Arizona because, not only are they are the largest provider of electricity in our state, but they are also one of largest donors to many non-profit organizations.

Insiders have known about this improper attempt by APS but the cat was let out of the bag at a recent debate on the subject of deregulation that was sponsored by Valley Leadership and Arizona Town Hall. The format pitted two representatives of regulators, Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project, against one representative of competition, Stan Barnes. Even though the debate was two to one against deregulation, I would contend that it helps to be on the side of truth and the truth is that regulation always benefits the regulated companies and competition always benefits the consumers.

During one portion of the debate Stan Barnes mentioned the campaign by APS to pressure local groups to support their position and said that it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Now that the cat is out of the bag, maybe APS will back off and confine their lobbying to the official docket, as they should and as they have done in the past.