Arizona Consumers Council v. Arizona Corp. Commission

22 P.3d 905, 200 Ariz. 85, 2001 Ariz. App. LEXIS 64
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedApril 5, 2001
DocketNo. 1 CA-CC 99-0006
StatusPublished

This text of 22 P.3d 905 (Arizona Consumers Council v. Arizona Corp. Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arizona Consumers Council v. Arizona Corp. Commission, 22 P.3d 905, 200 Ariz. 85, 2001 Ariz. App. LEXIS 64 (Ark. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

WEISBERG, Judge

¶ 1 Arizona Consumers Council (“Council”) 1 challenges the decision of the Corporation Commission (“Commission”) approving a settlement agreement among Arizona Public Service Company (“APS”) and a number of APS’s major customer groups. The Council argues that (1) the rates established by the agreement were not set in accordance with Arizona constitutional requirements; (2) the rates did not take into account the divestiture of APS’s generation assets; (3) the Commission improperly approved an adjustment mechanism that would allow APS to recover future costs; and (4) the Commission abdicated its constitutional rate making authority by becoming a party to the agreement. We, however, affirm the Commission’s decision.

FACTS

¶2 In December 1996, the Commission adopted rules outlining a framework for the introduction of retail electric competition in Arizona. Traditionally, all components of electric service were “bundled” — that is, provided to the customer as a package under one rate by one regulated utility. Ariz. Admin. Code (“A.A.C.”) R14-2-1601(5). Under the new rules, electricity generation, metering, and billing would become competitive, and customers could choose to obtain these services from electric service providers (“ESPs”) rather than from the incumbent utility. A.A.C. R14-2-1601(7). Transmission and distribution of electricity would remain noncompetitive and would continue to be provided to all users by the incumbent utility. A.A.C. R14-2-1601(29), (45). However, customers could also choose to continue to receive electric service as they always had — as a bundled service provided by the incumbent utility at regulated rates. A.A.C. R14-2-1601(38); R14-2-1606(A). Such service, called “Standard Offer Service,” would be deemed non-competitive. A.A.C. R14-2-1606(A).

¶ 3 In May 1999, APS filed an application with the Commission for approval of a settlement agreement among APS and a number of its customer advocate groups. The agreement addressed various issues related to the introduction of competition. In addition to APS, the signatories included the Residential Utility Consumer Office,2 the Arizona Com[88]*88munity Action Association,3 and Arizonans for Electric Choice and Competition.4 No ESPs signed the agreement.

¶ 4 The Council filed a motion to intervene, which was granted. The Commission conducted a six-day hearing in July 1999. The Commission also accepted pre-filed testimony, written rebuttal testimony, and post-hearing briefs. The Hearing Officer then issued a recommended Opinion and Order, proposing approval of the settlement agreement subject to certain modifications, after which the participants filed exceptions to the proposed order.

¶5 Approval of the agreement was also considered at an open meeting, at which the parties offered their comments about the proposed order. The Commission made several modifications to the settlement agreement and then approved the agreement by a vote of two to one. Decision No. 61973 was issued on October 6,1999.

¶ 6 Under the settlement agreement, as modified by Decision No. 61973, APS’s existing rates for bundled service were deemed to be its standard offer rates. The agreement provided for annual reductions of those rates by 1.5 percent for five years.

¶ 7 The agreement also provided that APS could recover $350 million in stranded costs through a competitive transition charge. “Stranded costs” consist of the verifiable net difference between the net original cost of the utility’s assets and obligations under traditional regulation and the market value of those same assets and obligations in a competitive marketplace. See A.A.C. R14-2-1601(39)(a). Stranded costs also include costs necessarily associated with the divestiture of generation assets as well as other approved costs of transition to a competitive industry structure. See A.A.C. R14-2-1601(39), (b), (c), (d).

¶ 8 The agreement requires APS to divest its generation assets by December 31, 2002, and requires the Commission to approve the formation of an APS affiliate to acquire those assets at book value. Furthermore, APS must file a general rate ease by June 30, 2003, although rates resulting from that rate case would not become effective before July 1, 2004. The agreement also requires the Commission to approve, before December 31, 2002, an adjustment clause to allow full recovery of certain defined costs, beginning July 1, 2004.

¶ 9 The Council filed an application for rehearing, which was deemed denied as a matter of law. See A.R.S. § 40-253(a). The Council then filed its notice of direct appeal. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 40-254.01(A).

DISCUSSION

¶ 10 To prevail in a direct appeal of a Corporation Commission decision, the appellant must show by clear and convincing evidence that the Commission’s action was unlawful or unreasonable. A.R.S. § 40-254.01(E); Consolidated Water Utils., Ltd. v. Arizona Corp. Comm’n, 178 Ariz. 478, 481, 875 P.2d 137, 140 (App.1993). We will not disturb a Commission decision, therefore, unless the appellant demonstrates that the decision is “arbitrary, unlawful, or unsupported by substantial evidence.” Litchfield Park Service Co. v. Arizona Corp. Comm’n, 178 Ariz. 431, 434, 874 P.2d 988, 991 (App.1994). Furthermore, this court may not reweigh the evidence and substitute its judgment for that of the Commission. See Tucson Elec. Power Co. v. Arizona Corp. Comm’n, 132 Ariz. 240, 243, 645 P.2d 231, 234 (1982).

Rate Reductions

¶ 11 Appellant argues that by approving the negotiated rate reductions in the settlement agreement, the Commission failed to comply with its constitutional obligation to set rates based on the fair value of the [89]*89utility’s property. The Commission and APS both respond that a fair value determination was not necessary and that, even if it were, the Commission conducted the appropriate financial inquiry.

¶ 12 Article 15, section 3 of the Arizona Constitution provides that

[t]he Corporation Commission shall have full power to, and shall, prescribe just and reasonable classifications to be used and just and reasonable rates and charges to be made and collected, by public service corporations within the State for service rendered therein____

Section 14 states as follows

The Corporation Commission shall, to aid it in the proper discharge of its duties, ascertain the fair value of the property within the State of every public service corporation doing business therein....

Construed together, these provisions require the Commission, when setting rates, to determine the fair value of the corporation’s property in the state and to use that finding as the rate base for calculating just and reasonable rates. See Simms v.

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Bluebook (online)
22 P.3d 905, 200 Ariz. 85, 2001 Ariz. App. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arizona-consumers-council-v-arizona-corp-commission-arizctapp-2001.