by Ethan Faverino | Apr 8, 2026 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) will host its annual 2026 Summer Preparedness Workshop on Tuesday, April 14, at 9:00 a.m. in Hearing Room One at the Commission’s Offices. The workshop will also be available virtually.
This annual event serves as a critical exercise in which Arizona’s regulated electric utilities present detailed plans to the Commission outlining their readiness to meet peak electricity demand during the state’s intense summer heat.
The workshop allows the ACC to review utility preparations, verify proactive grid maintenance efforts year-round, and confirm that infrastructure remains safe, reliable, and resilient for customers.
Arizona’s summer temperatures routinely drive record-breaking electricity demand as residents rely heavily on air-conditioning. In recent years, major utilities—including Arizona Public Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP), and Tucson Electric Power (TEP)—have repeatedly set new peak demand records amid scorching heat, with highs often exceeding 115 degrees in the Phoenix area.
In 2025, utilities forecasted and prepared for peaks exceeding 8,400 MW for APS and SRP each, while emphasizing additions of solar, battery storage, and other resources alongside adequate reserves to maintain reliability.
The commission uses the workshop to ensure utilities demonstrate sufficient generating capacity, transmission readiness, maintenance schedules, emergency response protocols, and contingency measures for high-demand periods.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Mar 31, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has opened a formal inquiry into how regulated utilities are using artificial intelligence in system operations, including planning, forecasting, and infrastructure management.
According to a March 24 announcement, Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson initiated the docket titled In the Matter of Researching and Discussing the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to More Efficiently and Reliably Deliver Energy and Water to Customers (Docket No. AU-00000A-26-0060).
Arizona Corporation Commission records show the inquiry directs regulated electric, natural gas, and Class A and Class B water utilities to provide information on their current and potential use of artificial intelligence in operations, including planning and forecasting, storm response, and equipment procurement. The docket also outlines plans for a public workshop later this year to gather input from stakeholders and subject matter experts.
“Our regulated utilities operate energy and water plants and distribution systems that are identified as critical infrastructure for Arizona,” Márquez Peterson said. “Discussions have been occurring frequently at national and regional conferences on the use of AI to automate and improve services. It’s important that our Commission engage in the dialogue surrounding these technological advancements on behalf of our regulated utilities and their ratepayers.”
The docket states that the Commission is seeking information to better understand how artificial intelligence may be used “to more efficiently and reliably deliver energy and water to customers,” while ensuring systems remain secure and resilient.
The proceeding will begin the Commission’s review of how artificial intelligence could be integrated into daily plant operations and distribution systems used by Arizona’s regulated utilities.
As part of the inquiry, utilities are being asked to detail how artificial intelligence is currently used or may be deployed in the future, particularly in areas such as system planning, demand forecasting, response to outages and severe weather events, and infrastructure and equipment procurement.
The Commission stated that the inquiry will also examine how utilities are implementing artificial intelligence to maintain system reliability and protect critical infrastructure.
According to the announcement and docket filing, a workshop will be held before the end of the year to allow stakeholders and subject matter experts to provide input and discuss information submitted into the proceeding.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Mar 12, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted unanimously to repeal the state’s Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) rules during its March 4 open meeting, ending a regulatory framework that has governed renewable energy requirements for nearly two decades.
The REST rules, first adopted by the commission in 2006, required regulated electric utilities to obtain a specified portion of their retail electricity sales from renewable resources. The standard began at 1.25 percent in 2006 and increased incrementally until reaching 15 percent after 2024, with a portion of the requirement reserved for distributed resources such as rooftop solar.
According to the commission, the repeal finalizes a rulemaking process that began in January 2024 under the commission’s rulemaking docket RE-00000A-24-0026.
ACC Chairman Nick Myers joined the other commissioners in the unanimous 5-0 vote. In a statement following the decision, Myers said the mandates were no longer aligned with current conditions in Arizona’s electricity market.
Commission officials said the REST framework achieved its original goal of expanding renewable energy generation in Arizona. The state’s major regulated utilities, Arizona Public Service (APS), Tucson Electric Power (TEP), and UNS Electric (UNSE), have met or exceeded the renewable energy targets established under the rules.
Myers added, “The reality is that the renewable energy landscape in Arizona has changed dramatically in the past 20 years.”
Since the program began, the utilities have collected more than $2.3 billion in REST surcharges from customers to fund renewable programs and incentives, according to the commission. More than $779 million of that amount was distributed as incentives for renewable energy programs approved by the ACC. According to the commission, that amount does not include “above-market amounts paid out to rooftop solar customers under net metering and the current RCP approach.”
Commissioners also cited long-term power contracts entered into under the mandate as contributing to costs borne by ratepayers. One example highlighted by the commission involves a 30-year solar power agreement between APS and the Solana Generating Station, under which APS customers have paid approximately $274.3 million above market prices for power to date.
“The Solana plant is basically providing energy at 15 cents a kilowatt-hour when the rest of solar these days are around 2 to 2 1/2 cents a kilowatt-hour,” Myers said during the meeting.
Under the REST rules, utilities were required to obtain at least 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025, with 30 percent of that renewable requirement coming from distributed sources such as rooftop solar.
Myers said utilities will continue to procure energy resources through competitive procurement processes designed to identify cost-effective and reliable power generation options.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes released a statement in September and sent a letter to the commission opposing the repeal. During her tenure on the commission from 2003-2010, Mayes, then holding office as a Republican, participated in the adoption of the REST Rules and Arizona’s Electric Energy Efficiency Standard Rules (EEES Rules).
The Arizona Corporation Commission regulates the state’s investor-owned utilities and has authority over energy policy decisions such as renewable energy standards and utility rate structures.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Mar 9, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted to close a long-running securities enforcement case against Densco Investment Corporation after recovering nearly $19.8 million for investors who lost money in the company’s real estate lending program.
The commission approved a request to close the Maricopa County Superior Court case Arizona Corporation Commission v. Densco Investment Corporation after funds were recovered and distributed through a court-appointed receivership.
The case originated in 2016, when the Arizona Corporation Commission filed a complaint alleging violations of multiple provisions of the Arizona Securities Act and seeking appointment of a receiver to manage the company’s affairs following the sudden death of Densco’s owner and sole operator.
According to a press release from the commission, Densco raised more than $40 million from investors and loaned those funds to real estate ventures. Investors were told loans would not exceed a 70 percent loan-to-value ratio and would be secured by first deeds of trust on the underlying properties. Investigators later determined those representations were inaccurate. Some loans were issued at loan-to-value ratios of 100 percent or higher, and some properties were not secured by deeds of trust.
During the claims process, the court-appointed receiver identified 113 investors who were collectively owed $31,446,001. Through recovery efforts by the receiver and the commission, $19,788,384 was recovered for distribution to investors.
The commission also holds a criminal restitution order totaling $16,946,384 for additional collection and distribution to investors. According to the ACC, investors have recovered more than 63 percent of their losses to date.
Earlier court-approved distributions had already begun returning funds to investors during the receivership. In 2017 and 2018, the Maricopa County Superior Court approved multiple payments up to roughly $7 million to investors as the receiver recovered assets tied to the company’s operations, as reported by the Arizona Daily Independent at the time.
Court records tied to related federal proceedings describe Densco as a private “hard money” lender formed by Denny Chittick in April 2001 that financed short-term real estate loans for investors. Federal filings describe fraudulent lending schemes connected to the company that resulted in losses totaling more than $31 million. Chittick reportedly died by suicide in July 2016, according to a Presentence Investigation Report cited by the court.
Documents related to the civil case are available through the Maricopa County Superior Court online docket under case number CV2016-014142.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Mar 8, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A retirement community in Eloy had its water rates raised significantly through a recent Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) vote.
The ACC approved the rate increases narrowly, 3-2, during its meeting on Wednesday. Commissioners Kevin Thompson and Lea Marquez Peterson voted against the rate increases.
Marquez Peterson said the utility companies should have done more to conduct public outreach prior to engaging in the rate increase process.
“We received many public comments concerning the dramatic rate increase though an increase was certainly expected from a utility who hadn’t filed a rate case in over 25 years. I believe that more could have been done to promote gradualism in the sewer rate case,” said Marquez Peterson.
Picacho Water and Picacho Sewer Company serve the retirement community Robson Ranch, located south of Casa Grande. The community has historically enjoyed low water and sewer rates due mainly to subsidization from the developer behind the community, Robson Companies. The developer absorbed the cost of increased expenses rather than pass them onto the residents.
The rate increases would result in increases of just shy of $7 for water and $65 for sewer, for a combined increase of about $76. No rate changes have occurred since the 1990s. For years, residents paid an average of about $30 per month for water and $42 per month for sewer services.
ACC declined to impose a phased increase of rates.
Commissioner Thompson said that was where the rate increase plan lost his vote.
“For decades, the developer chose to operate the water utility at a loss. No one disputes that the new owner is entitled to recover lost revenues and earn a reasonable profit on those investments,” said Thompson. “But rate increases should adhere to principles of gradualism, and as a regulator, I felt I had a duty to advocate for a resolution that strikes an appropriate balance between all parties and not subject these ratepayers to the consequences of business decisions that were no fault of their own.”
The decision to adjust utility rates after nearly 30 years came after another company, JW Water, acquired both companies from Robson Companies in 2024.
Robson Ranch residents spoke out against the rate increases during Wednesday’s meeting. They accused JW Water of seeking to maximize shareholder return.
The residents also blamed Robson Companies for covering increased expenses rather than passing the cost along to the customers. Residents said they had no knowledge their rates were being subsidized all those years; they said low rates were marketed as a perk of buying within the community.
Jay Shapiro, speaking on behalf of Picacho Water and Picacho Sewer during the meeting, said the rate case was “difficult for everybody involved” and that no one would be happy with the final results.
Shapiro denied exploitation of customers. He argued the longstanding rates were no longer recovering the cost of service. He said the rates were “just and reasonable,” and not a result of “price gouging” to benefit foreign investors. Shapiro accused critics of the rate increases of conducting a smear campaign.
“Rate shock was inevitable — rate shock sure sucks,” said Shapiro. “It’s an unintended consequence of some rate filings.”
Chairman Nick Myers agreed with JW Water that these rate increases were a necessity for services provided, not a means of making up for lost profits.
“Though I personally would prefer not to approve rate increases, we have a constitutional duty as Commissioners to set just and reasonable rates,” said Myers.
Vice Chair Rachel Walden concurred.
“JW Water is NOT recovering revenue losses over the course of the past 25+ years, nor are they recovering the purchase price of the utilities,” said Walden. “This rate case is ONLY about setting rates to cover the cost of service. I put forth a verbal amendment that was supported in full to ensure that future growth will pay for itself.”
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