Battle for Energy Deregulation in Arizona

Energy prices are highly regulated by most state and federal authorities. Electricity providers are assigned specific areas of coverage by the state, and set the energy prices (i.e., the electricity rates) for the homeowners, businesses and renters in that sector in close consultation with government. Knowing the cost of electricity rates going forward is a key concern of most businesses and landlords, so most state regulators move cautiously on any changes in this procedure.

But some analysts believe that this somewhat sluggish system could be improved by competition. They argue that a regulated system is the product of an older era, and that power customers should now have the power to choose where they spend their energy dollars. They point to emerging companies, particularly solar and renewable energy companies, which may be able to make a strong case to switch if customers are allowed the chance to do so. ShopMyPower.com is one resource on the Internet that allows you to compare electricity rates between electricity providers in the states that offer deregulation energy to homes and businesses. It’s a handy tool to compare and contrast various offerings.

Arizona recently considered, and then abandoned, a discussion on deregulation of its energy markets. There are currently 25 companies that provide power in the state, many of them solar energy upstarts, and the free market advocates wanted to see them all able to go after the available customers.

Meanwhile, the traditional utilities, led by the massive Arizona Public Service Company, argued that the state’s residents already received some of the lowest rates in the nation, and claimed that opening things up might change that status for many customers and bring added risk to the power grid.

The current system already works well, they argued, bringing residents a diversified power supply that includes natural gas, coal, nuclear power and an increasing amount of renewable energy.

The Arizona Corporation Commission, which acts as the Public Utilities Commission of Arizona, apparently agreed with the traditional utilities. They decided last year in September to end a brief exploration of energy deregulation in the state. The 4-1 vote to discontinue investigating any system change allegedly reflected commission concerns that opening the energy market to competition would violate the state’s Constitution.

The Arizona Corporation Commission may still consider small changes in regulation. But, for now, the vote makes it appear unlikely that any large-scale restructuring will happen in the state in the foreseeable future.

Advocates for energy deregulation vowed to press their Arizona fight, citing the 16 states that have already achieved some form of deregulation. But there appears to be little momentum on their side at the moment, so Arizona power customers will likely keep their current regulated system in place for some time. Company BioShop My Power is an independent non-biased comparison tool designed to help people select their electricity or gas company in those states which give consumers the power to choose and compare electricity rates. The people behind Shop My Power have over 20

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