Arizona

An Election for a Little-Known Agency Could Dictate the Future of Renewables in Arizona – Inside Climate News

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1 year ago

October 14, 2024

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An Election for a Little-Known Agency Could Dictate the Future of Renewables in Arizona – Inside Climate News

PHOENIX—Approval of the construction of two gas power plants without public comment.

Another’s expansion approved without an environmental review.

New fees for homeowners with rooftop solar that the Arizona attorney general has called “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional.”

Approval of an 8 percent rate increase for customers of Arizona’s largest utility, largely to cover the costs of expanding its grid despite the availability of cheaper options.

The gutting of the utility’s plan to provide financial support for communities impacted by the closures of coal-fired power plants.

And all of that in just the past year.

Explore the latest news about what’s at stake for the climate during this election season.

Those decisions by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) have drawn an outcry from environmentalists and the state’s attorney general, spawned lawsuits and prompted public campaigns by climate advocacy groups to hold the commission and Arizona Public Service Co., the state’s largest utility, accountable for continuing to use fossil fuels for electricity generation in Arizona.

In previous years, APS has invested tens of millions of dollars in influencing ACC elections.

But this November, the ACC’s actions and the responses to them will play a pivotal role in determining who will be elected to the commission, which advocates say has the potential to dictate Arizona’s climate and renewable energy future more than any other vote for office holders in the state.

“When it comes to mitigating climate change … the corporation commission plays a huge role in that,” said Emily Doerfler, a clean energy attorney with Western Resource Advocates who represents the climate-focused nonprofit in Arizona.

Created in 1912 under the state’s constitution, the Arizona Corporation Commission regulates the state’s water and power utilities and determines how much customers can be charged, how much profit utilities can make and how Arizona’s power grid is built and operated, along with other responsibilities. The state is one of 10 where the commissioners are elected and are separate from the state’s other branches of government, meaning only elections and lawsuits can hold them accountable. In 2022, Republicans took four of the commission’s five seats, giving them a supermajority. But three seats are up for election this year, setting the stage for a possible shift of the commission’s balance of power in one of Arizona’s most important, but often forgotten government entities.

The election comes on the heels of the ACC approving two more gas-powered plants and yet another summer of record-breaking heat in Phoenix, with over 100 days straight of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in 339 confirmed heat-related deaths and another 336 cases under investigation.

Six candidates—three Democrats and three Republicans—are vying for the three spots. Only one candidate, Republican Lea Marquez Peterson, is running for reelection.

In interviews and debates, Marquez Peterson and her Republican running mates, Rene Lopez and Rachel Walden, have defended the current commission’s approval of rate increases, citing the need to maintain grid stability, which they argue requires a “balanced” energy portfolio, including fossil fuels.

“The reality is, as Arizona continues to grow, whether it’s residential growth or we have this long line of data centers and semiconductor industries that want to come to this state, we need to prepare for that energy demand, and that is why energy reliability needs to be our No. 1 factor,” Marquez Peterson said during a debate on Sept. 3.

The three ACC Republican candidates (from left): incumbent Lea Marquez Peterson, Rene Lopez and Rachel Walden. Credit: Joe Rondone and Diannie Chavez/Arizona Republic

The Republican candidates have also downplayed the energy sector’s role in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and argued that creating a mandate for renewables would raise rates further. About a quarter of the country’s emissions come from electric power, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Democratic candidates Ylenia Aguilar, Jonathan Hill and Joshua Polacheck have campaigned on allowing the free market to dictate Arizona’s energy sources, which they say would favor solar and other renewable energy sources leading to lower emissions and costs, and they have attacked the current commission for failing to protect Arizonans from rising energy costs and climate change. They say they will stick up for customers when utilities ask to increase rates and work to address climate change by expanding renewables in the state.

“Arizona is not known as an oil and gas capital of the country,” Hill, who is currently a mission planner at Arizona State University’s Mars Space Flight Facility, said during the debate. “We are the sunshine capital of the entire country. There is no reason why Arizona should not be running entirely on solar.”

The three ACC Democratic candidates (from left): Ylenia Aguilar, Jonathan Hill and Joshua Polacheck. Credit: Diannie Chavez and Joe Rondone/Arizona Republic

Polacheck, a former foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, said in an interview with Inside Climate News that the commission’s actions aren’t just affecting Arizonans today, but also future generations.

“The commissioners will be constructing the future of our state, and whether that state is going to be livable, whether it’s going to be a state where people can afford to raise their families and whether it’s a place where we can coexist with the environment,” he said.

Commission Decisions Frequently Controversial in Recent Years

Just a few years ago, it seemed Arizona was close to setting a path to relying on an electricity mix made up entirely of renewable energy by 2050 thanks to a bipartisan plan from the ACC to reach that goal.

But the plan ultimately unraveled. Since Republicans took four of the commission’s five seats in 2022, they have consistently approved new natural gas plants and are attempting to roll back what standards for renewable electricity still exist, though the state’s largest utilities have implemented their own clean energy goals.

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The commission’s decisions have prioritized “making it easier for utilities to continue expanding and investing in fossil fuel infrastructure, which is historically much more profitable for them but much more expensive for ratepayers,” said Keriann Conroy, a research associate for the Energy and Policy Institute, a pro-clean energy watchdog organization. “And of course, has a lot of climate and health and environmental impacts.”

This year, two major actions have dominated the headlines about the commission. The first was a decision approving a rate hike from APS that increased customers’ bills by roughly 8 percent, while also adding a surcharge for rooftop solar customers. That action also allowed utilities to build new power plants without first going through a rate hike case that allows public comment on the plan. The second decision expanded UNS Electric’s natural gas-powered Black Mountain Generating Station without an environmental review, which reversed 50 years of precedent and a vote from the commission’s Line Siting Committee that required the project to undergo such a review.

The first action, climate groups argue, raised costs for customers to subsidize the utility’s continued consumption of fossil fuels despite its own studies finding that maintaining its coal-fired plants is uneconomical and that transitioning to renewables sooner would save it and ratepayers money. The ACC even went so far as to amend APS’s own plan, removing a $100 million fund the utility proposed for communities impacted by the coal-fired power plants eventually shutting down.

Rooftop solar panels are seen in Mesa, Ariz. Credit: Bruce Gifford/Getty Images

The Black Mountain Generating Station decision led to legal action. Western Resource Advocates, the Sierra Club and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a former corporation commissioner herself, separately filed lawsuits appealing the commission’s decision.

UNS Electric plans to add four new gas-powered plants to its Black Mountain facility at 50 megawatts each, for a total of 200 MW. The utility argued that it was not under the jurisdiction of the commission or subject to an environmental review because each of the plants was under 100 MW.

Arizona law requires a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility for power plants over 100 MW, and opponents of the ACC’s action say the new plants should be considered for their combined power output. The commission’s Line Siting Committee rejected the company’s argument in a 9-2 vote, arguing the commission had jurisdiction as the combined power of the plants at the single facility exceeded 100 MW. But the commissioners sided with the utility.

Doerfler, with Western Resource Advocates, said the ACC decision is just the latest example showing the commission has “abandoned” its constitutional duty to protect Arizonans, especially rural ones, “over and over and over again” to instead prioritize utility profits.

“The people of Arizona do not matter to the corporation commission,” Doerfler said.

As essentially the state’s fourth branch of government, the ACC almost exclusively has the power to either end or continue Arizona’s reliance on fossil fuels, she said. That would include decisions like whether to mandate a quicker end to coal-fueled plants like APS’s Four Corners Power Plant.

“That means that the emissions that are coming from this coal plant in the next year are almost directly in the hands of the Arizona Corporation Commission,” Doerfler said.

About This Story

Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That’s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.

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Wyatt Myskow

Reporter, Phoenix

Wyatt Myskow covers drought, biodiversity and the renewable energy transition throughout the Western U.S. Based in Phoenix, he previously reported for The Arizona Republic and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Wyatt has lived in the Southwest since birth and graduated from Arizona State University with his bachelor’s degree in journalism.

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Arizona

Kroger, Albertsons sued by Arizona, seven other states seeking antitrust lawsuit expense reimbursement

Published

39 minutes ago

April 7, 2026

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Kroger, Albertsons sued by Arizona, seven other states seeking antitrust lawsuit expense reimbursement

Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. Inc. have been sued by Arizona and seven other states and the District of Columbia, all of which are seeking to be reimbursed for costs they incurred while fighting a merger between the two grocers that later failed on antitrust grounds.

The coalition of plaintiffs, which also includes the Federal Trade Commission, is seeking $10.3 million from Cincinnati-based supermarket giant Kroger and Boise, Idaho-based grocery rival Albertsons, according to the lawsuit filed March 31 in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore.

Kroger is the parent company of Fry’s Food Stores in the Valley, and Albertsons owns the Safeway brand in Arizona.

Read more of this story from the Business Journal.

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Arizona

Avoiding AC fire risks while staying cool in Arizona

Published

13 hours ago

April 7, 2026

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Avoiding AC fire risks while staying cool in Arizona

Amid the ongoing spring heat, Arizona is in store for even hotter summer months. FOX 10’s Irene Snyder learns how Arizonans can stay safe and cool, while avoiding fire risks.

Posted April 6, 2026 5:49pm MST

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Arizona

Arizona men’s basketball closes out their historic season

Published

1 day ago

April 6, 2026

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Arizona men’s basketball closes out their historic season

The University of Arizona men’s basketball team closes out their historic season after losing to the University of Michigan in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats had a tremendous season, breaking program records and earning several different recognitions and awards.

Over the course of the season, the Wildcats dominated with a 36-3 run, breaking the program record for most wins in program history. Previously, this record was 35 wins during the 1987-98 season.

Many of Arizona’s players were recognized for their outstanding work during the season. Notably, senior Jaden Bradley was named Big 12 Player of the Year. Freshman Koa Peat and Bradley were selected to the West All-Region team. Peat also earned the Most Outstanding Player across the western regionals. Another notable recognition was Bradley and freshman Brayden Burries earning All-American honors.

Head coach Tommy Lloyd also received lots of well deserved praise for the way he led this team. He was named Big 12 Coach of the Year and Naismith Coach of the Year. After much discourse during the coaching carousel and the possible coaching job at the University of North Carolina, Lloyd recently agreed to a five-year contract extension with Arizona.

Regular Season Dominance

Right off the bat, the Wildcats showed promise in their team. The Red-Blue showcase was a great introduction to the team and demonstration of their talent for this upcoming season. As many predicted, they dominated in the preseason matchups against Saint Mary’s College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, blowing both teams out of the water.

Arizona continued to exert this dominance in their non-conference start to the season in November against tougher opponents. Their first competition was against the reigning NCAA Champions, No. 3 University of Florida, in Las Vegas. The Wildcats took the win 93-87, which was just the start of what was to come. Koa Peat made his college debut with a bang and proved he was a force to reckon with. Peat recorded 30 points on his debut, which also turned out to be his career high. When Arizona took the win against Florida, this was eye opening for a lot of people about the promise and talent that this team had to offer.

They had a close call against UCLA about two weeks later, taking the victory by a mere 4 points, 69-65. Arizona jumped significantly in the rankings since playing Utah Tech, where they were ranked No. 13, to taking the No. 5 spot. They only continued to climb in the AP rankings, inching up one position at a time. They were ranked No. 4 when they took the victory against No. 3 University of Connecticut, who won the national championship back in 2024. This win was just five days after they beat UCLA.

The Wildcats jumped right past the No. 3 spot after the UConn victory to the No. 2 spot as they took on the University of Denver, Norfolk State University and No. 20 Auburn University at home. After these three games, the Wildcats hit double digits and were holding a 10-0 record.

Christmas came early for the Wildcats as they grabbed the No. 1 spot in the AP polls in early December before playing No. 12 University of Alabama. Arizona held the No. 1 spot for nine consecutive weeks, which broke the program record that was previously held at eight weeks. They closed out their 2025 by adding four more victories to their roster, along with that No. 1 position.

After a notable regular season run, the Wildcats established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. They became the first team in AP Poll history to beat five ranked teams in their first nine games.

Undefeated Conference Run

The Wildcats began their new year and conference season on the road as they took their first Big 12 victory, 97-78, against the University of Utah. The following Wednesday, the Wildcats returned home for their first conference game in the McKale Center to face another team of Wildcats, Kansas State University. They blew them out of the water, taking a 101-76 victory. Throughout the course of the season, Arizona had 17 wins where they took the victory by 20+ points.

They continued asserting their dominance on both their home court and on the road. The first rivalry game of the season against ASU was a close one, but Arizona came out unscathed taking an 89-82 win. The Wildcats picked up three more wins against the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University before heading back to Utah to take on No. 13 BYU.

This was a close victory with the Wildcats beating the Cougars 86-83. The Arizona freshmen met their match with BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, who was a contender for the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft, but still is uncertain if he will enter the portal this season. Dybantsa recorded 24 points for the Cougars while Burries lead the Wildcats with 29. The Wildcats pulled through with a late rally to take the victory and remain undefeated in their season.

The Wildcats closed out January with another win against the school up north but this time in enemy territory. Following their game against ASU, Arizona took a victory against Oklahoma State University at home. This marked the Wildcats’ 23rd win, which was an Arizona program record, as well as achieving the best start in Big 12 history. Arizona and the University of Miami Ohio were the remaining undefeated teams at this point in the season.

Looking forward to their next game, they were taking on No. 9 University of Kansas on their home court. The Jayhawks handed Arizona their first loss of the season in a hard fight. Kansas was able to maintain their perfect home record on Big Monday, going 39-0 under head coach Bill Self. Going into this game, Arizona knew it would be a tough one as Kansas had home court advantage, but they also possess dominant freshman and veteran players. They were led by Flory Bidunga and Melvin Council Jr., who each collected 23 points.

After this loss on Monday, Arizona looked forward to their next home game against No. 16 Texas Tech University on Valentine’s Day. Not only was it a special day because it was Valentine’s Day, but it was also ESPN’s College Gameday, where 14,688 fans sold out the McKale Center to watch this nationally televised spotlight on the Wildcats.

This was the fifth time that Arizona has been the host, with the last time being in 2022. It was also the first time that a game was played in the new McKale Center at ALKEME Arena after the announcement of a 15-year naming rights partnership between Arizona Athletics and ALKEME Insurance. During this game, Arizona also honored former Wildcat guard Caleb Love who was welcomed into the Ring of Honor with a ceremony at halftime.

The Texas Tech game was a nailbiter, with the lead changing 11 times and having 11 ties. The game eventually went into overtime after Ivan Kharchenkov shot late free throws, but unfortunately the Red Raiders were too strong and took the win 78-75. JT Toppin collected 31 points and 13 rebounds while Christian Anderson recorded 19 points and six 3-pointers for Texas Tech. Arizona fought until the end and put up a good fight with both Burries and Tobe Awaka scoring in double figures.

Because of these two back-to-back losses, Arizona took a fall in the AP rankings from No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks to No. 4 as they prepared to take on No. 23 BYU for the second time this season.

Arizona managed to get back in the winning column to close out the rest of their season taking on some familiar faces like BYU and No. 14 Kansas for the second time this season, as well as new ones. They took victories against No. 2 University of Houston, Baylor University, No. 6 Iowa State University and University of Colorado, Boulder to round out the season. They managed to get redemption against Kansas and avenge their first loss of the season with a 20+ point victory margin 84-61 at home.

They secured the Big 12 regular-season title and earned the No. 1 seed heading into the Big 12 Tournament.

Big 12 Champions

After the Wildcats closed out their conference season against Boulder with another victory, they looked towards the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Arizona was the No. 1 seed and automatically advanced to the quarterfinals, where they took on No. 8 seed UCF. It was a clean sweep victory 81-59 to advance to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, they faced No. 5 seed Iowa State for the second time this season. Bradley cemented his name as the Big 12 Player of the Year after shooting a 3-pointer buzzer-beater to win the game and send Arizona to the finals. The Wildcats won 82-80 in a crazy finale.

Arizona faced No. 2 seed Houston in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament before stamping their ticket to the NCAA Tournament after a close win 79-74. This was the first time that Arizona has won the Big 12 Championship title since joining the conference back in 2024.

March Madness

Because of their pure dominance throughout the season and the Big 12 Tournament, Arizona was the No. 1 seed in the western region for the NCAA Tournament. All of Tucson buzzed with excitement over the start of the tournament, and most people made their brackets with Arizona taking the victory at the end of it all.

They headed down to San Diego for the first round of the tournament, where they played against No. 16 seed Long Island University. They took their first victory of the tournament with over a 30-point margin.

Later that weekend, Arizona advanced to play No. 9 seed Utah State University to finish out their weekend in San Diego. This was another victory to add to Arizona’s roster with the Wildcats’ winning 78-66.

Arizona returned home to Tucson, where they were greeted by loving fans showing their support upon their arrival to McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. They had a quick turnaround, though, as they were headed up to San Jose for the second round of the tournament. That Thursday, they took on No. 4 seed University of Arkansas in the Sweet 16.

In this matchup, Arizona showed strong offense with both Burries and Peat scoring 21 points, Kharchenkov scoring 15 and Bradley, Awaka and Motiejus Krivas tallying 14 points each. The Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight after a 109-88 victory over Arkansas. This was their first appearance in the Elite Eight since 2015.

The Elite Eight matchup was against No. 2 seed Purdue University. Arizona got off to a slow start, letting Purdue take the lead for the majority of the first half and going into halftime. The Wildcats made a strong comeback in the second half to come out with the 79-64 victory taking them to the Final Four for the first time since 2001.

Arizona was heading to Indianapolis for the Final Four where they were set to play the No. 1 midwestern seed University of Michigan. Arizona fans migrated to the midwest to support their Wildcats as they ended the 25 year drought since they had played in the Final Four. Unfortunately, this game did not go as the Wildcats had hoped. They were unable to find their rhythm against Michigan’s tough defensive strategy with their strong offense and high shooting percentage.

Arizona fell to Michigan 91-73 in the Final Four round of the NCAA Tournament. Though they did not win it all after a very tough game, this does not diminish everything this team has done this season and everything they have done for the Arizona basketball program. This team will stand as one of the greats and did the Arizona and Tucson community proud on the national stage.

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