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United States News Title: Immigration Law Boycott - Will Arizona Cut Power To L.A.? The Arizona immigration law is a personal affront to people of Hispanic descent across the nation. To make a political statement, the Los Angeles City Council voted to boycott the state of Arizona and Arizona based businesses. In response to the Los Angeles boycott, the commissioner of Arizona's electric and water utilities threatened to cut off the electricity supplied to the Los Angeles power grid by Arizona power plants. Article Resource: Will Arizona cut power to L.A. over immigration law boycott? Boycott Arizona is going nationwide The Arizona immigration law has motivated other cities with large Hispanic populations to deprive Arizona of cash now, including San Diego, San Francisco and Oakland. A similar boycott was approved May 18 by the city council in Seattle, a city not know as a center of Hispanic culture. Many organizations nationwide have also canceled conventions in Arizona. Type "boycott Arizona" in Google and you get The National Council of La Raza homepage, inviting institutions nationwide to join the NCLR in their boycott of Arizona. The Los Angeles boycott, however, is the first so far to result in a game of tit for tat over a law that many believe encourages racial profiling and violates civil rights. Depriving the Los Angeles power grid The Arizona Corporation Commission, which administrates the state's electric and water utilities, raised the idea of pulling the plug on Los Angeles, following the Los Angeles boycott. According to CNNMoney.com, 25 percent of Los Angeles power grid is supplied by Arizona's power plants. In a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce wrote that "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 power from Arizona-based generation. I am confident that Arizona's utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands." Los Angeles boycott adds up to millions The Los Angeles City Council chose to bar the city, in a vote of 13-1, from conducting business with Arizona unless the Arizona immigration law, which goes into effect in July, is repealed. MSNBC reports that the vote followed an emotional council discussion during which many members noted that their ancestors were U.S. immigrants. The states are not exactly tiny potatoes. Los Angeles has as much as $ 58 million in investments and contracts with Arizona. Most of the that money involves airport, port and energy service that lawfully cannot be influenced by the boycott. That leaves about $ 7.7 million in city contracts that could possibly be put into play. Among those contracts include helicopter services, waste management, taser guns, and engineering and surveillance equipment. Arizona - will they really cut power to Los Angeles? Will Arizona really cut power to Los Angeles? Coming in to downplay the threatening nature of the letter is John LeSueur, a spokesman for Pierce. He said in order to really cut power to Los Angeles would require a higher office, because the commission does not have the authority to execute such action. "It's not a threat," he explained to CNNMoney.com. "It's just pointing out the ramification of what L.A.'s threat would be on the boycott. If they carry out their threat to boycott Arizona, that includes 25 percent of their power." LeSueur pointed out that Los Angeles has partial ownership in two of the Arizona power plants, including a 5.7 percent stake in the Palo Verde nuclear power plant, and a 21 percent stake in the Navajo Generation Station on a Navajo reservation. Hispanics could get the whip's tip with the Arizona boycott The Arizona immigration law economic impact could be substantial. Phoenix officials say their city could lose as much as $ 90 million in the next five years over the protests, as reported by Fox New. This presented estimate does not just include lost convention and hotel fees, but also money tourists would otherwise spend in the city. In a twist of irony, Hispanics make up a major portion of Arizona's hospitality and service workforce. With that in mind and the fact city governments and organization are pulling the plug on travel and conventions in Arizona, Hispanic workers have the most to lose, as pointed out by state officials.
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#3. To: KellyD (#0)
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So AZ utilities get 25% of its revenues from one customer which is LA? Do AZ utilities, which are federally subsidized, btw, treat all of their customers like this? It's pretty arrogant behavior from an entity guaranteed a profit thanks to US tax dollars.
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