Franks Expresses Support for Lesko Energy Bill in AZ State Legislature

Franks Expresses Support for Lesko Energy Bill in AZ State Legislature

February 23, 2010 - Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) today released the following statement expressing his support for House Bill 2701, an energy bill introduced in the Arizona State Legislature by State Representative Debbie Lesko:

"In recent years, Arizona's Corporation Commission has
overstepped its boundaries by seeking to enact policies not within its purview under the Arizona Constitution. By Constitutional mandate, the Corporation Commission has the authority to set utility rates. It does not, however, have the Constitutional authority to define renewable energy standards, and it has sought to do just that.

"One such example is the Corporation Commission's attempt to require utility companies to obtain a large percentage of their power from expensive new technologies, such as solar systems mounted to individual customers' roofs. Obviously, most customers cannot afford such systems, and the utility companies have, unsurprisingly, largely been unable to meet the Corporation Commission's unrealistic standards, which it doesn't even have the authority to enact, to begin with!

"Such stringent requirements, in addition to being nearly impossible to actually achieve, also put a financial strain on Arizonans. By requiring utility companies (and, by extension, their customers) to invest in exorbitantly expensive new technologies, the Corporation Commission is putting an unnecessary financial strain on citizens and businesses within my district, who have been among the hardest hit in the nation by our current economic recession.

"As a result of these concerns, I urge members of the Arizona State Legislature to consider supporting House Bill 2701, which would restrain Arizona's Corporation Commission, thereby helping to ease the financial strain on all Arizonans."

Congressman Franks is serving his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and is a member of the Committee on Armed Services, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee, Military Readiness Subcommittee, Committee on the Judiciary, Constitution Subcommittee, and is Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.