Arizona’s Energy Competitiveness Index was released Friday by the Common Sense Institute of Arizona (CSIA) and despite skyrocketing electrical rates, Arizona’s energy reliability and competitiveness have reportedly fallen since 2022. With businesses and families buckling under the strain of higher rates passed by the Arizona Corporation Commission in March, the state and nation are pivoting further away from reliable natural gas and nuclear power toward more intermittent solar and wind solutions. And the outcome seems to be hurting Arizona families.
According to the report, “Arizona’s relative affordability has improved compared to other states. The state now ranks 21st in residential electric affordability, up from 28th in 2011.” But legislators and regulators shouldn’t celebrate much. This isn’t simply because Arizona has gotten better, but also because almost every other state has gotten much worse.
The CSIA report found in part, “The reliability of energy grids across the country is on the decline, although Arizona remains one of the more reliable grids in the country. On average, a user of electricity in Arizona faced 136.9 minutes of interruption in 2022 – up from 73.9 minutes in 2013, and nearly 59% less than the duration faced by the average customer across the U.S. (333 minutes). Despite falling slightly in the two reliability competitiveness indices, Arizona still ranks 5th in reliability.”
⚡ Despite a national decline, Arizona's energy grid remains one of the most reliable! In 2022, the average Arizonan faced only 136.9 minutes of interruption, compared to the national average of 333 minutes.
— Common Sense Institute Arizona (@CSInstituteAZ) July 29, 2024
However, the report added, “Both the electricity and natural gas prices faced by residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Arizona have increased in the last 13 years, but have also become more competitive as other states experienced larger increases. Arizona now ranks 21st in residential electric affordability, up from 28th in 2011.”
The report shows in detail that since peaking in 2022 at a score of 82.9, Arizona’s competitiveness index has dropped precipitously ending at 79 in 2023.
As noted by the Common Sense Institute: “Arizona’s Energy Competitiveness Index was 77 in 2011, peaked in 2022 at 83, and then declined to 79 in 2023. An increase in the Energy Competitiveness Index is a positive qualitative change – i.e., the state is more competitive as the index approaches one hundred. While the headline index extends through 2023, data for some of the individual component metrics are not available for the entirety of the period covered. For those metrics, we present the results through the latest year of data available.”
In regard to capacity, the report reveals that Arizona’s generating capacity, referred to as “nameplate capacity” increased from 2019 to 2022 but has barely kept pace with population increases and has declined considerably since peaking in 2012. The report noted, “Arizona has experienced a large increase in its population in recent years due to high levels of net migration. Because power plants typically take several years, if not a decade or more to complete, nameplate capacity has not increased as much, thus the decrease in nameplate capacity per 100,000 residents.”
From 2011 to 2023, Arizona's overall energy competitiveness ranking jumped to 21st, with improvements in six out of ten key indices.
— Common Sense Institute Arizona (@CSInstituteAZ) July 26, 2024
The Common Sense Institute offered a stark warning that, “While the goals of implementing a more environmentally friendly energy system have merit, policymakers should take caution not to recklessly transition their energy grids to renewable sources too quickly, and without appropriate supporting infrastructure. Renewable transition elsewhere, namely in states like California and Texas, has proven to be both costly and at a detriment to reliability and competitiveness.“
Should Washington and Phoenix continue to plunge headlong down this path, it seems unlikely that Arizona’s energy outlook will remain sunny.
In the election for the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board, it appears that one campaign is playing by the rules while the other is not. And the City of Scottsdale Code Enforcement Department has chosen to favor the side breaking the rules.
A concerned citizen contacted AZ Free News and provided photographic evidence that the campaign for candidates Donna Lewis, Matthew Pittinsky, and Michael Sharkey, installed large street signs over a month before the allowed period, which begins on August 26.
Social media posts from the North Scottsdale Democrats and campaigner Shea Najafi indicated that the organization participated in installing the signs prior to the permitted date.
City of Scottsdale Code Enforcement Officer Cathy Maldonado confirmed in correspondence provided to AZ Free News that the permitted date for school board campaign signage is Aug 26.
However, after multiple complaints, the city told the citizen that it is “unable to remove School Board election signs based off the time they are being placed,” unless “they are in a sign free zone, obstructing view / safety hazard, or if they do not have contact information.”
According to the City of Scottsdale’s Campaign Signs Guidelines and Regulations, “Campaign/Political Signs are allowed beginning 71 days before a primary election and ending 15 days after the general election.”
The document advises, “Candidates exceeding the permissible time limit will be subject to enforcement. Failure to comply with these guidelines and regulations may result in sign removal and other enforcement action.”
In a statement sent to AZ Free News, a supporter of conservative school board candidates Gretchen Jacobs, Jeanne Beasley and Drew Hassler laid out the chain of events:
“On 7/23, the supporter was informed that the City removed the Sharkey/Pittinsky/Lewis school board candidate sign.”
“On 7/24, I then filed a second complaint for another sign. Richie from the City of Scottsdale went to the sign location, we spoke, and he confirmed in text that the city would contact the candidates and give them 24 hours to remove the signs.”
“Throughout the day, additional complaints were filed as more Sharkey/Pittinsky/Lewis signs were discovered by the community … but now the City is responding to complaints to deny them, claiming that school board signs cannot be removed, even though they are admittedly out early. It appears that management is telling Code Enforcement Officers that they can only enforce some rules (safe zones, yes; but timing, no).”
“On 7/25, Code Enforcement Officer Richie confirmed in text to me that the signs are out early, but that he will not be allowed to remove the signs as he had stated that he would.”
In an email provided to AZ Free News from Melanie Schwandt, an Administrative Secretary with the City of Scottsdale, our source was given an answer from the City’s Legal Department which had determined “the School Board signs could not be removed even prior to the 71 day mark.”
Arizona Women of Action posted to X regarding the signage violations in Scottsdale, writing, “Some candidates are breaking city codes & getting away with it. This creates an unfair advantage for those candidates who do not mind taking the risk of getting their names out there before the legal date for signage.”
Some candidates are breaking city codes & getting away with it. This creates an unfair advantage for those candidates who do not mind taking the risk of getting their names out there before the legal date for signage.
— Arizona Women of Action (@azwomenofaction) July 27, 2024
Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity, reporting the same violations, wrote, “The @scottsdaleazgov confirmed that school board candidate signs may not be displayed until Aug 26th … but after democrat candidates installed signs more than 1 month early, the City has decided they will do …. exactly nothing.”
— Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity (@ScottsdaleUnite) July 26, 2024
AZ Free News has reached out to ‘Protect SUSD,’ the campaign for Sharkey/Pittinsky/Lewis, North Scottsdale Democrats (NorScoDems.org), as well as the Scottsdale Code Enforcement, Legal and Communications Departments for comment. We received no responses by time of publication.
On Friday, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AZFEC) filed a lawsuit against the State of Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and the ‘Make Elections Fair’ political committee. The group is challenging the initiative to place open primaries, ranked choice voting, and the elimination of public funding in partisan elections on the November ballot as a single item. The AZFEC, along with three co-plaintiffs, is contesting the constitutionality of The Make Elections Fair Arizona Act, on the basis that it violates the Arizona Constitution’s “Separate Amendment Rule,” which prohibits multiple constitutional amendments from being combined into a single ballot measure.
In a press release, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club explained, “If placed on the ballot and approved by voters, the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act would radically change how Arizonans select and approve candidates for public office, essentially copying the California voting system.”
Broken down under the premise of the “Separate Amendment Rule,” the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act constitutes twelve separate amendments according to the AZFEC. The act touches three disparate areas of Arizona election law, directly amends four different sections of the Arizona Constitution, and adds an entirely new section, whole cloth.
🚨 BREAKING: We just filed a lawsuit against the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act (which would essentially copy the California voting system) because it contains multiple separate constitutional amendments in violation of the Arizona Constitution. 🧵https://t.co/SZdu3h3aRV
— Arizona Free Enterprise Club (@azfec) July 26, 2024
Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club said in the release, “In their rush to undermine the will of Arizona voters for future elections, the special interests that drafted this measure ignored our laws and our Constitution. This egregious disregard for law and order exudes arrogance from these parties and should disqualify their measure from the November ballot.”
In the text of AZFEC’s complaint, attorneys for the organization cited, “Article XXI, Section 1 of the Arizona Constitution, which states that “[i]f more than one proposed amendment is submitted at any election, the proposed amendments shall be submitted in such a manner that the electors may vote for or against such proposed amendments separately.” They added that, in past precedence, the Arizona Supreme Court has upheld that “the purpose of the single-subject rule is to eliminate the ‘pernicious practice of “log-rolling,'” whereby voters are ‘forced, in order to secure the enactment of the proposition which [they] consider[] the most important, to vote for others of which [they] disapprove[],’” the process of packaging a proposition the voters might support with others they may not.
As detailed in the release, even the drafter’s website readily acknowledged that the initiative included multiple amendments in the no longer online section: “Initiative Language” by presenting the amendments in four distinct categories in a format showing each issue as a “Current Problem” and a solution labeled “MAKE IT FAIR.”
ARIZONA FREE ENTERPRISE CLUB V. STATE OF ARIZONA and ADRIAN FONTES §104 ( About Page, MAKE ELECTIONS FAIR ARIZONA, https://www.makeelectionsfairaz.com/about (last visited July 24, 2024).ARIZONA FREE ENTERPRISE CLUB V. STATE OF ARIZONA and ADRIAN FONTES §104 ( About Page, MAKE ELECTIONS FAIR ARIZONA, https://www.makeelectionsfairaz.com/about (last visited July 24, 2024).
In the complaint, the plaintiffs appeal for relief in the form of a declaration from the court that the initiative is in violation of the Arizona State Constitution, and a request for a mandamus order to compel Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to carry out his “nondiscretionary duty to comply with the Separate Amendment Rule set forth in Article XXI, Section 1 of the Arizona Constitution.”
As reported by the Arizona Mirror, the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act has already been the subject of a legal battle between the Make Elections Fair Arizona political action committee and Arizona Legislative leaders, House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen, regarding the descriptive language of the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.
The description in question reads, in part, that the proposition, “would amend the Arizona Constitution to: 1. Allow for the use of voter rankings at all elections held in this state to determine which candidate received the highest number of legal votes,” continuing to break down the revisions to the primary election and general election procedures.
Attorneys for the PAC complain in the lawsuit, “By beginning with the changes the Initiative permits regarding the use of voter rankings, the adopted analysis improperly amplifies those permitted changes and improperly understates the Initiative’s required changes to the primary-election procedures.” They suggest that this is misleading.
Last Friday’s CrowdStrike outage, which made headlines for disrupting operations at valley polling places, severely disrupted life for people all over the state because of Arizona’s heavy use of mobile banking, according to a study from Vention released Tuesday.
According to a release obtained by AZ Free News, the study by software development company Vention was based on Google Keyword Planner analysis of the U.S. Google search volume related to mobile banking on the basis that it can identify the states that utilize it most and were therefore the most impacted.
🚨 Recent #CrowdStrike outage shows that even automated security systems need a human touch. For startups & SMBs without dedicated security staff, Vention is here to bridge the gap. Let us help you stay secure and focused on growth: https://t.co/7J25dbcgkxhttps://t.co/tAtwqw1rYa
Arizona ranks fifth in the nation based on Vention’s findings following Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida.
Credit: https://ventionteams.com Sources: Search volume data was gathered from Google Keyword Planner | Mobile banking usage survey results are from marketwatch.com | Penetration rate of online banking in the US is from statista.com
In Arizona, the utility of mobile banking is intuitive given the nature of Arizona’s development with tens of thousands of residents living in far-flung communities further from civic and business centers. But in other areas where mobile banking is prevalent, insufficient physical banking locations to handle customer density is a reasonable cause.
Vention reports, “In recent years, mobile banking has rapidly gained popularity, driven by the convenience and accessibility it offers. A recent survey conducted by MarketWatch found that nearly 75% of people prefer mobile and online banking over in-person banking.”
Marc Karasu, CMO at Vention, commented on the findings saying, “It’s fascinating to see which states are adopting the latest trends in banking technology more quickly and which are lagging.”
“What’s more, mobile banking popularity is set to keep rising, with research predicting that over 79% of the population will be using online banking by 2029.”
“Studies such as these are invaluable for the banking industry to identify where they need to focus their marketing efforts. Additionally, it highlights the states that could benefit from increased financial technology education and support.”
A report from the Arizona Republic Friday stated that the outage brought down point-of-sale systems at Circle K locations, caused delays and flight cancellations at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and disrupted police dispatch and communications systems all over the state.
Founder and president of Data Doctors Computer Services, Ken Colburn, told AZCentral that the situation could cause CrowdStrike and other cybersecurity firms to perform a “deep self-examination,” adding, “The silver lining of this is maybe we as an industry become better at this type of thing.”
Discussing the convenience of technology and interconnectivity as well as the risks he told the outlet, “You can’t really have it both ways.” He continued, “Every day, we as individuals make risk decisions. It is the nature of individuals. It’s the nature of business. It’s the nature of life. What we have to do is make sure that the risks that we’re taking do not exceed the value of what we’re getting out of our interconnected world.”
According to CNN, the outage, described as the largest IT outage in history, is expected to cost Fortune 500 companies in excess of $5 Billion in direct losses with healthcare and banking systems hit the hardest, suffering estimated losses of $1.94 billion and $1.15 billion respectively.
Congressmen Eli Crane (R-AZ) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) have introduced a House Resolution demanding that the United States Secret Service surrender all documents, records, and communications regarding the July 13th Trump Rally in Butler, PA to Congress. The move came shortly after Crane’s visit to the venue, where the attempted assassination of President Trump occurred, with the House Homeland Security Committee led by Chairman Mark Green (R-TN).
As reported by AZ Free News, Rep. Crane shared his professional assessment of the attempted assassin’s sniper position in a potent testimony given his service as a Navy SEAL Sniper. According to a press release from Crane’s Congressional Office, the resolution, if adopted, will require Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to surrender all of the applicable records and documents within 7 days of the resolution’s passage.
“Yesterday, I visited the site of the attempted assassination against President Trump, including the roof where the shooter was positioned. As a former Navy SEAL sniper, it was clear to me that many security measures were completely dropped making President Trump extremely vulnerable,” Rep. Crane said in a statement.
“There’s no excuse for this grave failure. Accountability must be inescapable for those responsible. With today’s resignation of Secret Service Director Cheatle, we must continue to push aggressively for continued accountability.”
“After yesterday’s hearing with Secret Service Director Cheatle, during which the House Oversight Committee received no substantive answers, it is crucial for Congress to step in and conduct oversight over Secret Service’s failures on July 13th. House Leadership must quickly bring Rep. Crane’s legislation to the Floor to force Mayorkas’s DHS to comply with our ongoing investigation.”
In a joint-statement Reps. Crane and Biggs said, “The security failures that allowed an assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life are shocking.” They added, “In response to bipartisan demands for answers, we are announcing a House Task Force made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats to thoroughly investigate the matter. The task force will be empowered with subpoena authority and will move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and make certain such failures never happen again.”
By the time the resolution was introduced, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle had already resigned from her role following hours of bipartisan questioning and condemnation from the House Oversight Committee. Monday’s proceedings saw members of both parties such as Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (R-TN) demand Cheatle step down with Khanna referencing the resignation of Director H. Stuart Knight eight months after the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.
“I just don’t think this is partisan,” Khanna said. “If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president, or a candidate, you need to resign.”
Mace asked Cheatle if the beleaguered Director would like to use her last five minutes of questions to draft a resignation letter, to which Cheatle replied, “No, thank you.”
Cheatle's resignation does not conclude our investigation.
