Arizona threatens to cut off Los Angeles electricity due to boycott

[wndycty]

Arizona Threatens to Turn Lights off in L.A.
Official Says Los Angeles Can Go Without Arizona Electricity if City Goes Through with Boycott

(CBS) You boycott our state, we'll shut off your lights.

That's essentially the message Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce delivered to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after the L.A. City Council voted to boycott Arizona in protest over its new and controversial immigration law.

In a letter to Villaraigosa, available on the conservative blog Hot Air, Pierce writes that he was "dismayed" by the city council's vote and threatened to respond by shutting off the city's Arizona-based electricity.

"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. I am confident that Arizona’s utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands. If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona’s economy," Pierce wrote.

The immigration legislation allows law enforcement to ask anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant to furnish proof of citizenship or legal residency. Critics have blasted the law as encouraging racial profile, a claim that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer denies.
-snip-

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/19/national/main6498572.shtml

[havocmom]

1. Somebody posted about CA owning a whole lotta shares of that nuclear plant in AZ

Anybody have that link? Might behoove AZ to treat the stockholders a bit better.

[thelordofhell]

9. Here's the breakdown of ownership

Arizona Public Service: 29.1 percent
Salt River Project: 17.5 percent
Southern California Edison: 15.8 percent
El Paso Electric: 15.8 percent
PNM: 10.2 percent
Southern California Public Power Authority: 5.9 percent
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power: 5.7 percent

[havocmom]

12. So, CA concerns/companies have combined 27.4%? Thank you

AZ needs to behave or LA will fart in it's general direction

[thelordofhell]

33. And Arizona concerns have a combined 46.6%

And apparantly our mother is a hamster and our father smelled of elderberries.

:rofl:

[montanto]

35. Hilarious.

Good Humor!!:rofl: I needed a laugh today and that was it! Thanks.

[abelenkpe]

2. O puleeze!

"Critics have blasted the law as encouraging racial profile, a claim that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer denies."

Yeah and teapartiers aren't racists.

I hope LA works out plans to get electricity elsewhere.

[snooper2]

10. They are not teapartiers, they are teabaggers

please call them by their proper name :)

[madinmaryland]

14. Thanks! I say that everytime I hear someone on TV say "tea partier"

[Juneboarder]

29. How does a teabagger

deal with elephantitis?

[havocmom]

44. probably with little or no trouble

Seems they all have big fucking mouths

[4_TN_TITANS]

48. "That's a lotta nuts!" lol

:spray:

[EC]

3. Sounds like what Russia did to Georgia, Poland

and other Ukraine countries...They sure are coming across as tyrantical...

[xchrom]

4. Oh this is getting good. And no one is turning the lights out in L.A. Nt

[Purveyor]

5. Good way to wake up some morning and find that the "Arizona Corporation" has been Nationalized due

"national security" reasons.

[Better Today]

6. He's got a point, dammit. And the above comment about shareholders

doesn't really hold water because many of those being boycotted probably have at least some non-AZ shareholders, so it's still all apples to apples.

[Beetwasher]

24. Who's Got A Point? The Commissioner? He's Out Of His Fucking Mind And Would Certainly Be In Breach

Of contract.

You can't nullify a contract because of a boycott that's totally unrelated to the contract. It's idiotic.

[Better Today]

26. Unless the boycott involves breaching contracts which I am unclear about.

[Beetwasher]

30. Nothing To Be Unclear About, He's Got No Point ,There's No Way A Boycott Can Breach The Contracts

They are completely unrelated.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. There was a lot of indignation about this on LA television this AM

The actually letter is worth reading, it can be found here: http://hotair.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/letter-azcc-villaraigosa.pdf.pdf It does not explicitly threaten anything and is about as snarky as it gets.

The wording of the LA resolution contains escapes clause to allow continued purchase of AZ power, or just about anything else for that matter. "to the extent practicable, and in instances where there is no significant additional cost to the City". Complete text is found here: http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2010/10-0002-s36_rpt_cla_5-11-10.pdf

Both sides of this are deep into political grandstanding. I am also an skeptic of boycotts in general. I am confident this will all die in Federal court. If it doesn't then lets look at other means.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. Yeah, yeah. "Both sides" this, "either side" that, yadda yadda yadda.

Photons go in, photons come out.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

18. So you think that both sets of pols are not posturing for local consumption?

Snarky letters and council resolutions with wide open back doors should be taken seriously?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. So formulaic. Again. -nt

[eleny]

8. That's hilarious

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Boycott is the discretion of the consumer.

Shutting off electricity to a city is breach of contract.

See you in court, sucker!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Read what as actually sent. Its quite snarky

It also plays off the wording of the LA City Council resolution. Local pols engaged in public grandstanding for their constituencies

Snarky AZ Letter:
http://hotair.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/letter-azcc-villaraigosa.pdf.pdf

LA City Council Resolution
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2010/10-0002-s36_rpt_cla_5-11-10.pdf

[no_hypocrisy]

23. New cause of action: Tortious Interference With a Contract

or Business Opportunity.

http://www.troutmansanders.com/files/Publication/057cc460-8227-4c93-b526-ae20eba47af9/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/1019c2c4-d9f0-4f04-9aec-b03563d365be/Tortious%20Interference%20with%20Controct%20or%20Business%20Expectancy.pdf

[ProgressiveProfessor]

32. Against LA?

[no_hypocrisy]

42. Against Commissioner Gary Pierce.

(Probably a relation of Barbara Pierce Bush.)

[ProgressiveProfessor]

45. Did you actually read the source docs?

LA City Council is the one calling for reviewing contracts with an eye towards cancellation.

Pierce dared them to live up to their position and cancel the contract, claiming they had other customers.





Snarky AZ Letter:
http://hotair.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/letter-...

LA City Council Resolution
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2010/10-0002-s36_rp...

[Tumbulu]

19. Good point !!!!(nt)

[havocmom]

47. dunno, ENRON and it's cronies seemed to get away with it for fun and profit

Just before they died ;)

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. Nice try, but I'm quite certain that the AZ utilities like their money.

And cutting off a city the size of LA from your market doesn't exactly do wonders for increasing demand.

[Raineyb]

17. And where exactly does AZ get the water that it wastes on golf courses and pools?

Perhaps a dose of STFU is in order. That would be in addition to the dose it should be taking for passing this racist bullshit in the first place.

[Abq_Sarah]

25. I'm not sure how California

Can cut off Arizona water since it's not coming from California.

[Juneboarder]

28. LOL; I was thinking the same thing...

I think the true answer there is that the states where the water passes through all have rights.

[Raineyb]

39. My point is, AZ gets its water because it's routed through other states. It would behoove them

to remember that. It is not just California that is disgusted with Arizona.

[Abq_Sarah]

40. I doubt

Utah will be lining up to boycott Arizona.

[thelordofhell]

31. Same place California does

Reclaimed unpotable waste water.

[Beetwasher]

21. Sounds Like It Would Be A Very Serious Breach Of Contract

Among other things.

Go for it AZ, see what happens.

A boycott is not breaching a contract. And I'm sure there's nothing in your contract(s) about providing power that says you can nullify it because of a boycott.

I would also imagine CA is PAYING you for that electricity? Good luck doing without that revenue.

[wiggs]

22. Great. More polarization, more distraction, more resentment, more fear,

more reasons to not band together to fight the real battle.

Before elections, there's always a reason to run to our various groups, clubs, parties, isn't there? There's always a reason to be afraid or ridicule others....gays, people of color, socialists (real or imagined...doesn't matter), liberals, the San Francisco agenda, Chicago politicians, Massachusetts wind surfers, French and Germans, organizations who register poor but have secret agendas to rule the world, gun control advocates, people who believe in separation of church and state, non-christians, anyone who has ever been in Berkeley, Canadians of course, immigrants, public school teachers, union members, academics (those not associated with Pat Robertsons university), Venezuelans (the poor ones), government employees and officials, the Sierra Club (who we now know are responsible for the BP gulf leak but they've always been bad guys), scientists, women who either: work/want to choose/aren't married/play softball/sit on SCOTUS, peace corps volunteers, etc etc etc.

Not an accident. Fear, resentment, and suspicion are great fundraising and polarization tools. As a nation trying to have a public discourse on extremely important issues, we are such idiots to fall for it over and over. 9 out of 10 hours on talk radio are about ridicule, fear, suspicion, imaginary agendas, etc.

One of the two parties is responsible for much more of this kind of manipulation than the other...although there are enough people on both sides to make it work.

[Juneboarder]

27. Arizona might as well...

secede from our country. Bring Utah with them while they're at it. Then, at least, all the prick-ass-teabaggers can live together in Teabagger Land happily ever after.

[AngryAmish]

34. Now this actually violates the Dormant Commerce Clause

So we all know what the Commerce Clause says - Federal Gov't regulates commerce between the states (and other stuff). What this means in principle is we can't have a 400% tariff in Illinois on Wisconsin agricultural products). It exists just to stop shenanigans such as this.

The California law may exist in a safe harbor known as the market participant doctrine. When a state government actor is a market participant it can discriminate against another state's products. But there is an equal protection problem with the LA law too.

So, what do all the other Dormant Commerce Clause fanboys out there think about this?





What?




There are no other DOrmant COmmerce Clause fanboys out there?


Really??

HOw could this be...




Ok, everybody else, what gives?

[Abq_Sarah]

36. The state/city/municipality is acting as a consumer

Not regulating commerce.

If they used to law to punish private companies from doing business with Arizona, they'd have to spend a lot of time and money in court defending an illegal action.

That said, what they are doing is punishing businesses in Arizona for legislation they have no control over. It's stupid, it breeds ill will and may well come with a backlash.

[Initech]

37. Oh yeah? We'll build our own power plant with blackjack and hookers!

On second thought forget about the power plant!

[TheKentuckian]

38. Wouldn't that result in a rather serious drop in the coffer levels?

Is Arizona boycotting themselves????

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[SargeUNN]

41. How many threads are there on this. I have replied on 3 now

It is impossible because Ca. has part ownership so no way that can happen. This guy has served in the govt. long enough he knows that so he is just grandstanding for attention and votes.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

43. At least

[L0oniX]

46. LOL