U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm met with Arizona tribes on Tuesday in Phoenix to hear their concerns and announce funding for several of the tribes to modernize and harden electric grids, build or expand renewable energy projects, including microgrids, and reduce power outages.
Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson of the Arizona Corporation Commission is encouraging Arizona’s largest electric utility, Arizona Public Service Company (APS), to partner with local venture capital groups to incorporate utility/energy RFPs into local start-up competitions and technology transfer programs.
With the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law, businesses are preparing for a rush of new opportunities for installing solar in Arizona, not to mention electric vehicles and chargers and other energy projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions. The law provides a 10-year extension on the federal tax credit for solar, setting it at 30%. The credit is 26% this year and was set to decline more without the act, which retroactively will bump it to 30% for 2022.
The future of the Valley’s energy is uncertain for the summers after this year, according to feedback from some of the state’s largest electricity providers. Supply chain issues, hot temperatures and drought conditions all could contribute to a less stable power supply in the Valley as officials seek answers to determine how to meet peak demand in the summers beyond of this year.
A rapidly growing state, increasing numbers of days with extreme heat, supply-chain disruptions and shut-down power plants all threaten to cause blackouts in the Southwest in coming years. That’s the message Arizona Public Service Co., Tucson Electric Power and Salt River Project officials gave regulators this week during a normally routine meeting about the summer power supply.
Salt River Project announced Thursday a wind farm will be developed north of Flagstaff that will produce enough energy to power about 40,000 homes.
Flicking a switch and filling a room with light is one of the most basic expectations of modern life. If darkness persists, the culprit is likely a dead bulb, not insufficient electricity. This reliability of power is easy to take for granted, but it is essential to the daily operations of society and the economy. Even small interruptions can have significant financial impacts.
If this year is anything to go on, renewable energy may have a bright future in northern Arizona. Last week, water and power utility Salt River Project announced it would be working with the Boise-based renewable energy company Clēnera to locate a new large-scale solar facility northwest of Flagstaff. The new facility, dubbed CO Bar Solar, is being built in partnership with Babbitt Ranches.
More than 30 large organizations, including major businesses and energy consumers in Arizona, called on the state’s utility regulators to finalize and implement new Clean Energy Rules that will require Arizona Public Service Company and Tucson Electric Power to generate 100% carbon-free electricity and expand programs to eliminate energy waste.
As leader of a group that counts hundreds of member companies across the state and beyond, it’s no surprise that their interests are as varied as the people reading this column right now. Getting these companies to agree on one subject has been nearly impossible.