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Arizona Chair States Intent To Place Retail Supplier Applications, Consideration Of Sought AG Opinion On Choice, On Agenda At Upcoming Meeting (Allows Discussion Of Issues)

September 30, 2021

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Copyright 2010-21 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson filed a memo stating her intent to place on the October 27 Staff Open Meeting agenda all of the outstanding applications from retail suppliers for Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CC&N) to provide competitive electric generation service in Arizona, as well as further consideration of the ACC seeking an opinion from the state's Attorney General concerning the electricity restructuring statutes and rules, given the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Johnson Utilities

As previously reported, a recent court case concerning a water utility (Johnson Utilities) clarified that the ACC lacks plenary authority, or the ability to supersede prior legislative mandates, in areas which do not infringe on the ACC's exclusive ratemaking authority

See a full discussion of the issues concerning electric choice in Arizona in light of the Johnson Utilities case in our prior story here

As previously reported (story here), in light of the recent Johnson Utilities case, Commissioner Justin Olson in a memo this summer urged the ACC to comply with "paramount" state law, which requires that the ACC direct the electric utilities to open their territories to electric choice, and requires the ACC to adopt rules for electricity competition

See more background on existing statute requiring the opening of electric utilities to competition here

As previously reported, given these developments, subject to confirmation in a future vote, the Arizona Corporation Commission currently intends to request, pursuant to A.R.S. § 41-193(A)(7), an Attorney General Opinion regarding the statutes the Legislature established in A.R.S. § 40-202(B), (C), (D), and (E), and §§ 40-207–208, concerning electricity restructuring, and the status of A.A.C. § R14-2-1601 et seq., concerning previously adopted electric choice administrative rules, in light of the Arizona Constitution, article XV, §§ 3, 6, 12, & 14, Phelps Dodge Corp. v. Arizona Elec. Power Co-op., Inc., 207 Ariz. 95 (Ct. App. 2004), which invalidated the prior choice rules, and Johnson Utilities, L.L.C. v. Arizona Corp. Comm'n, 249 Ariz. 215 (2020), which establishes that, outside of ratemaking, the legislature's authority is paramount

As previously reported, Olson stated in a memo that the seeking of such opinion from the AG should not delay consideration of Green Mountain Energy's previously reported application for a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CC&N) to provide competitive electric generation service in Arizona in accordance with the state's Energy Competition Act. Applications for CC&Ns from several other suppliers have been pending at the ACC for years

In response to Olson's memo, Márquez Peterson said in a memo that, "I agree the Commission should not delay the timely processing of any application that is legally filed under administrative rules that the Commission has the proper authority to use taxpayer time and resources to implement and enforce, or that could help the Commission achieve noteworthy public policy objectives when the potential costs and risks have been fully vetted by the Commission. However, I believe the Commission should, at a minimum, give the Legal Division an opportunity to draft the letter we requested, before we proceed with any additional Staff updates or votes."

Márquez Peterson noted that several applications for CC&Ns for the provision of retail electric service are currently pending under the Commission's Retail Electric Competition Rules (eleven in total). These include:

• Constellation NewEnergy Inc.

• Direct Energy Services. LLC

• Green Mountain Energy

• Energy Me Midwest LLC

• Sempra Energy Solutions

• PDM Energy LLC

• Applied Metering Technologies Inc.

• MeterSmart LP

• Energy Professionals LLC

• EMEX, LLC

• Incite Energy LLC

"As Chair, it would be valuable for me to receive an update from Staff regarding the stars of all of the applications that have been pending before the Commission and whether the applicants are still interested in prosecuting their respective applications," Márquez Peterson said

"Lastly, I am aware that the Legislature established two regulatory paths for the approval of CC&Ns, one under a non-competative [sic] monopoly path and the other under a competitive path. I am aware that of the eleven applications that have currently been pending at the Commission, Green Mountain Energy's application may be the only application that was filed under both regulatory paths. While this itself may raise questions about the propriety of the application or its 'administrative completeness' under either path, there are no outstanding legal questions surrounding the implementation or enforceability of the Commission's non-competitive CC&N rules as there for the Commission's Retail Electric Competition Rules. Althougn [sic] the non-competative [sic] CC&N path may not be appropriate for this applicant, I believe Green Mountain Energy as the applicant has the right to pursue that path, if it so chooses and is willing to comply with the administrative rules set forth under that regime. Thus, to the extent that Green Mountain Energy would like to proceed with the portion of its application pertaining to the Legislature's non-competitive CC&N path, I believe it would be appropriate to hear from Staff and the Hearing Division whether how and when they expect to pick up, review, process, and schedule the respective application under the Commission's rules for provision of non-competitive retail electric services."

Márquez Peterson specifically requested that the October 27 Staff Open Meeting agenda include on the agenda the following items (allowing discussion of such items): consideration of seeking an AG opinion; the 11 open retail supplier CC&N applications for competitive services; and Green Mountain's application under the non-competitive CC&N path

Docket E-21160A-21-0279

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