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A senior policy expert at the Goldwater Institute said he has challenged an anti-deregulation critic to a one-on-one debate over a proposal for Arizona to dismantle its monopolistic system of providing electricity to homes and industries.

Arizona is poised to end fiscal 2013 in a better position than anticipated.

University officials today pressed the business community and the state for more engagement in creating a robust college education system, even as they acknowledged that schools are adapting to technology-driven changes in higher education.

In this Aug. 2 interview, Mark Schiavoni, APS vice president for operations, argued that Arizona’s regulated model has worked for more than a century and there is no reason to plunge into the unfamiliar waters of competition. APS spokesman Jim McDonald also sat in for the chat with Arizona Capitol Times reporter Luige del Puerto.

Arizona Public Service is temporarily halting plans for more than $550 million in investments to secure its power supply after energy regulators opened up the possibility of competition in electric service.

Showdown looms over electrical deregulation
For a century, public utilities have produced and delivered electricity to homes and industries in a system that guarantees their profit and ensures steady service to residents.

Now, the Arizona Corporation Commission is considering whether to shake up the monopolies and bring competition to the state.

The Arizona Corporation Commission has asked the public to weigh in on electricity deregulation, which would break up the state’s system of “regulated monopoly” under which a handful of public utility companies are in charge of generating and distributing power to homes and industries.

Critics of the state’s new election law today filed papers to create a political committee that will challenge the legislation through a referendum.

The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments has completed its work and today sent three nominees to Rep. Chad Campbell, who, as the House Minority Leader, will pick one to fill a vacancy on the Independent Redistricting Commission.

The bipartisan budget put together by Gov. Jan Brewer and her allies would spend $8.8 billion in fiscal year 2014, a 3.46 percent increase from current spending levels.