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.
It’s disappointing that Arizona Corporation Commission Chair Lea Márquez Peterson has reversed her position, voting down a bipartisan set of clean-energy rules twice in one month. We are especially pleased to see the strong energy-efficiency standard and a 100% carbon-free electricity standard included in the package. While we would have liked to see a more aggressive timeline for Arizona to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity, the compromise of a strong interim target to achieve 50% clean energy by 2032 will go a long way to growing a thriving clean-energy industry.
The new rules update the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff that an all-Republican commission passed in 2006 and requires utilities to get 15% of their power from renewables by 2025, as well as the 2010 energy-efficiency requirements for them to use efficiency measures to meet 22% of their energy demand by this year.
Arizona is at a crossroads and has an opportunity to lead the nation in a clean energy proposal that differs from the Green New Deal. Arizona Corporation Commissioners have an opportunity to shape our state’s energy future while protecting our ratepayers and assuring reliability.
Commissioner Márquez Peterson’s energy–smart leadership has the Arizona Corporation Commission going in the right direction, making sure that Arizonans realize the full benefits of current energy market trends. Beyond being good for our wallets, it represents the most prudent, market-oriented, and conservative path forward for Arizona.
Despite more than three years of stakeholder engagement and bipartisan cooperation, and with utilities, businesses, consumer advocates, and communities of faith all aligned in support, the ACC voted down its proposed energy rules* 3 to 2 at its Open Meeting. This is a disappointing end to a three-year-long process that consolidated broad support behind a shift to cleaner, more affordable energy options for Arizona families and businesses.
In this op-ed published by the Arizona Republic, Arizona Technology Council CEO Steven G. Zylstra and Doran Miller, state director of The Western Way, discuss why columnist Robert Robb misses the mark completely that the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) lacks the authority to update the energy standards at all. Additionally, he fails to recognize the many ways in which modernizing our clean-energy rules will benefit Arizona ratepayers, communities, the economy and environment.
We are well-positioned for a strong recovery, in part because of the strength of Arizona’s clean energy, technology and innovation sectors. With that in mind, last fall The Western Way partnered with the Arizona Technology Council to convene a group of stakeholders working at the forefront of technology and innovation here. Together, the group identified key policy priorities that, if implemented, can supercharge Arizona’s economic recovery and cement our state as a national leader in clean and renewable energy technology and innovation.
Arizona is among top states for new solar installations in 2020; Salt River Project offers $1,000 rebates to drivers buying or leasing electric vehicles; UACJ Whitehall selects Flagstaff for its new electric vehicle parts plant; ElectraMeccanica selects Arizona to establish U.S. base of operations; Nikola unveils its plans for 2021; electric vehicle start-up Lucid Motors will soon go public; Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power and the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative are well prepared to avoid energy disasters; Arizona State University promotes a new book titled “Cities of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures” to discuss the future economic and social justice implications of a fully sustainable society; and more.
A controversial bill to prohibit Arizona’s utility regulators from setting state energy policy appears dead after a Republican senator decided he cannot support it. Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, told the Arizona Capitol Times that he still has too many outstanding questions about SB1175, which would allow only the Legislature to set energy policy. The House and Senate just don’t have the same expertise as the Arizona Corporation Commission, Boyer said.