Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona’s campaign to mandate increased use of renewable energy in the sun-drenched state was met with fierce opposition from Arizona’s largest utility.
The proposal—called the Arizona Renewable Energy Standards Initiative—would create a constitutional amendment that would require electric utilities in Arizona to acquire electricity from a certain percentage of renewable resources each year. The amount would increase each year by 12 percent in 2020 to 50 percent in 2030 and each year thereafter.
As of 2018, 29 states had renewable portfolio standards (RPS)—a mandate to electric utilities to generate a minimum amount of electricity from eligible renewable energy sources. Arizona’s current electricity mandate requires 15 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2025. The new measure would define renewable energy to include solar, wind, biomass, certain hydropower, geothermal, and landfill gas energies.
The initiative was organized by Clean Energy for a Healthy America. The non-profit is backed by billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, who financed the initiative through his NextGen Climate Action group.
Arizona is the third state where Steyer’s Climate Action group pushed ballot initiatives for higher renewable energy standards, following Nevada and Michigan. However, only Arizona’s initiative resulted in political uproar between environmentalist and utilities organizations.
So far, over 480,000 citizens have signed the measure, which is more than double the requirement of 225,963 signatures. Come voting day, a simple 50 percent majority of voters is all that is needed to pass the initiative.
Abengoa’s Solana solar thermal power plant in Gila Blend, Arizona, uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays and produce enough energy to power 71,000 homes. (Department of Energy)Taking Advantage Of Its Role As The Sunniest State
Steyer, known for climate advocacy as well as his push to impeach President Donald Trump, says he’s backing the proposal because of the benefits it will bring to Arizona. Campaign finance records show Steyer’s group gave $750,000 in cash and more than $200,000 in goods and services to the renewable energy campaign.
“It will actually lead to lower costs and save a lot of money for consumers,” Steyer said. “It leads to clean air and a lot better health outcomes for Arizonans, and it should create literally tens of thousands of jobs in the state of Arizona.”
The National Resources Defense Council, Mi Familia Vota, and various in-state health and climate groups have also endorsed the initiative as a way to bring more renewable energy to Arizona.
Arizona is one of the top states for solar power—ranked second for utility-scale solar and third for rooftop. But the sun only provided 5 percent of the state’s power in 2016, with renewables as a whole making up 12 percent. Clean energy advocates and solar companies have been trying for years to boost that figure, claiming that Arizona hasn’t taken advantage of its role as the sunniest state in the nation to develop more solar energy.
Supporters of the Renewable Energy Standards Initiative have been met with fierce opposition, most notably by Arizona Public Services (APS), the state’s largest electricity provider.
“APS will say or do anything to protect their $488 million in dirty energy profits,” said Rodd McLeod, spokesman for the Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona initiative. “They know Palo Verde employs a lot of people, so they are cynically threatening these workers’ livelihoods if they don’t get their way because they have no good argument against clean, renewable energy.”
In this photo taken Wednesday, June 27, 2018, environmental activist & billionaire Tom Steyer poses at his offices in San Francisco. Arizona’s largest utility is fiercely opposing a push to mandate increased use of renewable energy in the sun-drenched state, setting up a political fight over the measure funded by Steyer. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)A Threat To Utilities And Consumers
APS and other opponents believe the proposed constitutional amendment will cause customers’ utility rates to skyrocket and harm reliability. Its parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., funneled $1.18 million to Arizonans for Affordable Energy to oppose the initiative in the first three months of the year.
Multiple chambers of commerce, Tucson Electric Power, and Chicanos Por La Causa also oppose the initiative.
“Everyone supports renewable energy,” said Matthew Benson, spokesman for the utility-funded opposition initiative. “The question is whether we are going to have an Arizona plan that is created and implemented by Arizona leaders and officials, or whether we’re going to have a plan crammed down our throats by a political activist from California.”
APS also warned that the initiative’s higher renewable standard would force its nuclear power plant to close to make room for renewable energy. APS says its Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is the largest electricity producer in the U.S.
According to Jeff Burke, APS director of resources planning, customers would see 6 to 14 percent increases on their bills if the company is forced to increase renewable use ahead of schedule.
"We continue to add renewables to our system, but they have to make sense," Burke said. "It's not really about a target, it's about what makes sense for our customers' usage and what makes rates affordable and what keeps our system reliable."
Photo of Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. Renewable energy measure could force Palo Verde Nuclear to close. (Power Engineer)An Easy-Out On Clean Energy
Over the past two weeks, Arizona’s state legislature has attempted to challenge the initiative. At the urging of APS, lawmakers created a copycat ballot proposal of the renewable energy initiative: both propose the same clean energy target using almost the same words, but only one requires that the target actually be met.
Renewable energy advocates say the legislature’s measure is simply meant to undermine the other proposal.
"The idea is to put two seemingly similar initiatives on the ballot so people get confused and vote no on all of them," said Amanda Ormond, managing director of the Western Grid Group, a nonprofit that promotes renewable energy.
The new measure, now signed by Gov. Doug Ducey, will nullify the penalty for not complying with the energy standard. Ducey’s signature on the bill could cause a potential lawsuit, as Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona attorneys already wrote to state lawmakers to argue that it violates at least three sections of the state Constitution.
"It’s astonishing just how much more power APS and their profits hold over Arizona’s elected leaders than do the people of the state," Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona spokeswoman Pita Juarez said after Ducey's signature announcement Friday.
Should the group, Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona, get the required signatures and voters approve the measure, companies such as Arizona Public Service Co. and Tucson Electric Power Co. would be required to get half of their power supply from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2030. (TEP, Array Technologies)
