Open the Official Voter Information Booklet and Prop 421 looks popular: 69 arguments in favor. Look closer. Fifty-seven were paid for by TEP for Tucson, a PAC funded solely by TEP. Twenty-five were submitted by TEP employees. Nearly all repeat the same talking points; "reliable" appears at least 105 times.
At $240 per argument, those 57 cost $13,680. Sounds like real money. Now set it beside the $437 million in profit Fortis collected from TEP's parent company last year: TEP earns back the entire campaign in about 16 minutes.
Meanwhile TEP is asking regulators for a 13% rate increase, roughly $172 million more each year from our pockets: paid for in 42 minutes of increased rates.
Strip out the scripted arguments and only 12 independent voices remain. Those are the odds Tucson voters face. Vote no on Prop 421.
Howard Weiss
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