Arizona Corporation Commission

State Rep. Bob Stump (R-Peoria) now leads Democrat Sam George by just over 1,000 votes in the still-undecided contest to see who will fill the third open seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

With 100 percent of precincts now reporting, Secretary of State Jan Brewer's office has the tally at 829,902 for George and 830,956 for Stump, a change from the previous count which showed George leading Stump by several hundred votes.

The official canvass from the Secretary of State isn't due until Dec. 1, though results may be known before then. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of provisional and absentee ballots are yet to be counted, especially in Maricopa County, which contains most of the state's population.

Half of all votes have been counted, and so far none of the six candidates for Arizona Corporation Commissioner are significantly outpacing or under-performing against any other.

As it stands, Democrat Sandra Kennedy leads the pack with 17.8 percent, while state Rep. Marian McClure (R-Tucson) trails at 15.8 percent.

That means there is no greater than a 2 percent difference between any of the candidates in the race.

In a letter sent to the entire Arizona delegationin the U.S. House and Senate, the Arizona Corporation Commission is urging the state's national legislators to support the extension of the investment tax credit for solar energy and other renewable energy sources. The credit's renewal was passed in the House but is stalling in the Senate, and is set to expire in December of 2008.

"As rising natural gas prices drive the cost of electricity upward," read the letter, "it is vital that Arizona look to alternative sources of energy. With more than 300 days of sunshine a year, solar power is the logical choice for our state."

The ACC has been supporting two large-scale solar power projects: The Solana Generating Station, which will cover hundreds of acres at Gila Bend, and another station whose construction costs and output will be shared by a "multi-state consortium of ten southwestern utilities."

In the letter, the ACC warns, "Unless Congress acts soon to extend the 30 percent investment tax credit ("ITC") past its December 31, 2008 expiration date, neither of these projects will come to fruition."