Pinal Partnership February Government Relations Committee meeting recap: ACC & legislation
For the February Pinal Partnership Government Relations Committee (PPGRC) meeting, Co-Chairs Rebecca Timmer with Wilson & Company and Ben Bitter with the Town of Florence, led the committee through various legislative discussions following an overview of the happenings at the Arizona Corporation Commission by Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson.
Ben introduced Chairwoman Márquez Peterson by thanking her for being a strong supporter and advocate for Pinal County residents. We are grateful for all she did and does to ensure issues are resolved. Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson was appointed to the Arizona Corporation Commission by Governor Doug Ducey in May of 2019. She is the first Latina to serve in a statewide seat in the state of Arizona. Her background is in small business, including owning/operating a Business Brokerage Firm from 2005 to 2009 and a chain of six gasoline stations/convenience stores. You can read her full bio here.
The three areas of focus for the five-person Board of Commissioners are utility regulation, incorporation and securities. Speaking to water, Chairwoman Márquez Peterson said the ACC regulates close to 300 water companies throughout Arizona; small water companies need a lot of improvements and she is working to streamline those processes. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Water Committee for National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) which works on water issues with small water companies on a national level. More info can on NARUC can be found here.
Chairwoman Márquez Peterson mentioned the acquisition of Johnson Utilities by EPCOR and provided time to Chad Guzman from EPCOR to give an update on current developments with the utility. Chad mentioned the new name for the utility area is the San Tan District of EPCOR; a change we will begin to see soon.
Speaking to renewable energy, Chairwoman Márquez Peterson shared the Commission’s long-range plan to achieve 100% clean energy and zero emissions in Arizona. Recently, the Line Siting Committee approved a 20MW solar battery project in Pinal County that will serve about 5,000 homes. She also discussed future impacts that may assist Nikola and Lucid in their manufacturing efforts. The Line Siting Committee has a vacancy for a representative of counties. More information can be found about the vacancy here.
Ben noted economic drivers reported on in the monthly Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) fiscal highlights. While some sectors are doing well and show sales tax up 9.2% overall over last year, air travel is down at 54.9% below last year. You can read more from the JLBC report here.
Next, we had an open discussion amongst the committee members on legislation we are following which includes consular ID cards, transportation, home building, criminal justice reform, energy and sustainability, San Tan Valley incorporation and more.
Mitch Basefsky with CAP shared the news about the recent passage by the federal government to reallocate previously unallocated CAP water to communities in Pinal County. 3,200-acre feet are being reallocated to the Johnson Utilities service area; other reallocations include Apache Junction and Queen Creek.
Before concluding, Ben led the committee in a moment of remembrance for longtime friend of Pinal Partnership and economic development Champion Tim Kanavel. He will be greatly missed.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 20, 2021 via Zoom. Buchanan Davis with University of Arizona Cooperative Extension mentioned UA’s plan to build a world class school of mining which we will learn more about at our next meeting. April 24 is the 100th day of session so we will also invite Pinal County legislators to provide updates on the current session.
Committee meetings are open to all members of Pinal Partnership. Please contact Melissa Johnson if you would like information to join the committee and/or join as a member of the Partnership.
