Natural Gas Prices/Need for Infrastructure

• Natural Gas Prices in Northern Arizona

Natural gas prices across Arizona and elsewhere have skyrocketed. In Northern Arizona, which is served by Unisource Energy Services, natural gas prices have doubled or more. Some residents are being faced with the impossible choice of whether to heat or eat.

As a result, I recently called on my colleagues at the ACC to hold a public meeting in Prescott to hear the concerns of Arizonans on this issue and have asked the Commission to consider eliminating or delaying collection of the gas surcharge which has led to a portion of the price increase. I also believe that Unisource is responsible for failing to properly notify northern Arizonans that the increases were coming, leaving many in the position of having used natural gas to heat their homes without knowing the rate at which they were going to be charged. This must never happen again, and I have called on my colleagues to implement a new system by which notification efforts must be pre-screened and approved by the ACC.

• Natural gas pipeline

Arizona is behind the curve on natural gas pipelines and storage. Approximately 50 percent of the state’s electricity is powered by natural gas, and experts predict that our state will suffer a natural gas shortage by the year 2006. As a result, I joined with my fellow Commissioners to begin a process at the Commission that will encourage the building of a new natural gas pipeline into Arizona. My office has begun a study of the strengths and weaknesses of the various pipeline proposals.