Nina Trasoff and Mark Manoil have sent voters a four-page brochure claiming the current Corporation Commission has been catering to out-of-state investors building power plants in Arizona that have been sucking up our natural gas, polluting our air and running ugly transmission lines across the desert in order to make fat profits by shipping electricity to California.

"Help short-circuit the plan to send our power to California," the brochure pleads. "Vote Nina Trasoff and Mark Manoil for Corporation Commission." The brochure refers voters to a Web site, www.ProtectOurPower.com, which details the commission's approval in recent years of a number of new power plants in and around the Valley.

Trasoff and Manoil say the commission should have put tighter environmental and marketing restrictions on the new plants to cut pollutants and ensure Arizonans get lower rates, while also mandating that 20 percent of new power come from renewable sources such as solar and wind.

Trasoff and Manoil's history and energy lesson is selective to the point of being deceptive. They don't mention that just three years ago the entire Southwest was facing a serious energy shortage that resulted in rolling blackouts in California. Arizona has avoided similar problems primarily by rejecting environmental and power-plant siting policies that are overly restrictive.

Yet the Democratic candidates say the Arizona Corporation Commission should use California's environmental policies - the same policies that helped foment that state's energy crisis - as a model for Arizona's future. That would be a huge mistake.

Arizona already has strong environmental regulations when it comes to power plants. Those that have been built the past few years, many of them west and south of the Valley, are among the cleanest in operation. Even the expansions of two existing power plants in the East Valley will result in a net reduction in air pollution.

Trasoff and Manoil's claim that Arizona is being used by the big power generators as an "energy colony" of California is also disingenuous. Power generating facilities throughout the West are interconnected in a giant grid of transmission lines. This ensures reliability throughout the grid as supply and demand fluctuate seasonally and due to emergencies and maintenance outages in various locations.

Furthermore, it's ludicrous to claim Arizona is California's "energy colony" when much of Arizona's gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel comes from California oil refineries via pipeline. The rest comes from Texas, which also supplies Arizona's natural gas.

Yes, the Corporation Commission needs to look out for Arizona's consumers and our environment. But we see no evidence the present commission is shirking either responsibility. Indeed, this commission is one of the most able in Arizona's history in terms of grasping complex energy issues and crafting responsible, workable policies that maintain an ample, reliable supply and reasonable rates while protecting the state's environment.

Voters shouldn't fall for the scare tactics and simplistic fixes of Nina Trasoff and Mark Manoil that could lead Arizona into the same crisis California created for itself just a few years ago.