Saying they won’t hurt Arizona utility customers to benefit Californians, state regulators have rejected a utility’s plan to build a $581 million cross-desert power transmission line to carry electricity generated at plants in Arizona to customers in California.
The Arizona Corporation Commission voted 5-0 on May 30 against the application by Southern California Edison, a utility that serves 13 million residents of Southern California, part of a region designated by the federal government as needing more transmission capacity.
While numerous power plants and transmission lines have been built in Arizona, California hasn’t done enough to meet the energy needs of itself or the region, Commissioner Bill Mundell said. “I don’t want to be an energy farm for California — that’s my bottom line,” Mundell said. “It needs to be a two-way street.”
The commission said the project would mean rate savings for California utility customers but higher bills for their Arizona counterparts as California soaks up generating capacity that Arizona will need to meet its own energy needs. Also, the project would contribute to air pollution, use scarce water and harm a bighorn sheep habitat on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, the commission said.
Commissioner: ‘California needs to step up to the plate’
“Arizona pays the price and California reaps the benefit. That’s not acceptable,” said Commissioner Jeff Hatch-Miller. “California needs to step up to the plate and begin building its own generation.”
The proposal drew support from power plant operators, California officials and utility investors and opposition from consumer advocates and environmentalists in Arizona.
“California wants to drop a giant extension cord in Arizona and draw out our power,” Commissioner Kris Mayes said. “Arizona’s energy future is at issue in this case.”
The proposed 230 miles of high-voltage lines — including approximately 100 miles in Arizona — would carry electricity from a power junction near several independently owned gas-fired plants near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix to a power junction near Palm Springs, Calif.
Rosemead, Calif.-based Southern California Edison said in a filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission that the project is needed to strengthen the interstate transmission system, particularly to relieve congestion between the two states.
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