Inside Arizona’s latest clash over renewable energy targets
Most stakeholders agree the state needs more renewables, but they don’t agree on how to get there.
Arizona’s politics over renewable energy have always been contentious. As the state considers adding new targets, this year is no different.
There are two proposals to increase Arizona’s renewable portfolio standard. One, a ballot initiative, would add a 50 percent renewable energy mandate (sans nuclear) by 2030 to the state’s constitution. The other, proposed separately by a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), would increase the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 80 percent (including nuclear) by 2050.
Arizona Public Service Company (APS), which services 1.2 million Arizonans in 11 of the state’s 15 counties, favors the ACC initiative and says the ballot measure would reduce its ability to choose the resources best suited to its customers. Ballot initiative supporters say the utility’s reliance on natural gas makes little sense in a state with copious solar resources. Commissioner Andy Tobin, the ACC member that introduced the initiative, contends his plan is an achievable way to modernize the state’s energy system.
All the parties are wrestling with what Arizona’s future should look like, and whether that future should be guided by utilities and regulators, voters and consumers, or all of the above.
