Posted on 05/19/2010 11:48:14 AM PDT by Mozilla
A member of Arizona's top government utilities agency threw down the gauntlet in a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, threatening to cut off the city's power supply as retribution for the city's boycott of Arizona. If Los Angeles wants to boycott Arizona, it had better get used to reading by candlelight.
That's the message from a member of Arizona's top government utilities agency, who threw down the gauntlet Tuesday in a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa by threatening to cut off the city's power supply as retribution.
Gary Pierce, a commissioner on the five-member Arizona Corporation Commission, wrote the letter in response to the Los Angeles City Council's decision last week to boycott the Grand Canyon State -- in protest of its immigration law -- by suspending official travel there and ending future contracts with state businesses.
Noting that a quarter of Los Angeles' electricity comes from Arizona power plants, Pierce threatened to pull the plug if the City Council does not reconsider.
"Doggone it -- if you're going to boycott this candy store ... then don't come in for any of it," Pierce told FoxNews.com.
In the letter, he ridiculed Villaraigosa for saying that the point of the boycott was to "send a message" by severing the "resources and ties" they share.
"I received your message; please receive mine. As a statewide elected member of the Arizona Corporation Commission overseeing Arizona's electric and water utilities, I too am keenly aware of the 'resources and ties' we share with the city of Los Angeles," Pierce wrote.
"If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Well I much prefer someone overseeing what our utilities do in AZ considering we have over a hundred degree weather four to five months of the year. Electricity is like oil to AZ.
You had to go and ruin it didn’t you .... /sarc
The remaining Red states need to get on board with Arizona. Economic secession!!
Oh LA would be able to get electricity elsewhere but at what cost?
You see AZ is good at making electricity whereas CA is not.
LA would likely have to pay more money without contracts to get it elsewhere when they are short funds to run LA already.
You beat me to it!
Elect that man to Congress....STAT.
Sure. I’d hate to think we wouldn’t have enough to provide for ourselves.
When I grow up, I want to be like Arizona.
An estimated 12% of San Diego summer tourists are from Arizona!
They call us “Zonies”.
that’s okay arizona and everybody call people from CA “CA fruitcakes”
I think calling this letter a ‘threat’ does an injustice to the surgical precision of its content. The Arizona official also suggested that the L.A. City Council test ‘the courage of their convictions’ by following through on their boycott to the point of giving up the AZ electricity. Very sweet.
Powerlines run from AZ to CA. Turn off the switch in AZ, gets dark and quiet in CA.
Gotta love the guy!
re: “Ok, so you support the State of Arizona telling the private utilities operating in that state to whom they can sell the power that they produce.”
Ok, yes, we all get your point, but that is not what is being said. No one is telling the Arizona Utility company that they HAVE to do anything. The guy merely said that if LA is going to be consistent with their stupid boycott, then they need to cut their tie to Arizona’s power plants, too. He would have no problem if the Arizona utility company renegioated their contracts with LA. In fact, he would encourage them to do so. But, “encouraging” and “forcing” are two different things.
....threatening to cut off the city’s power supply .... [snort!]
How can liberals forget that we're all, like, interconnected? I thought that was their word.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.