by Matthew Holloway | May 23, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) is urging residents to contact their electric utility providers now as summer temperatures rise and higher electricity bills are expected to impact households across the state.
According to a press release, the ACC warned that triple-digit temperatures and increased air conditioning use typically drive significant month-to-month increases in electricity bills beginning in June and continuing through the summer months.
The commission said higher summer energy usage can create affordability challenges for households and businesses and encouraged customers concerned about paying utility bills to reach out to their electric providers before balances become unmanageable. Utilities may offer payment arrangements, budget billing programs, and financial assistance options to eligible customers.
“As we head into summer, I encourage ratepayers to explore ways to manage their energy use and to contact their electric utility if they need financial assistance,” Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Nick Myers said. “The Commission’s responsibility is to ensure rates are just and reasonable, while ratepayers have the ability to control their monthly bills through their energy usage.”
Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson urged customers to prepare early for summer utility costs and highlighted the commission’s seasonal protections against service disconnections.
“It’s important that our regulated utility customers prepare now for the heat of Arizona’s summer months by reaching out to their utility to learn about energy saving tips and programs that can help during financial hardships,” Márquez Peterson said. “Remember – the ACC has approved a disconnection moratorium from June 1 – October 15 to ensure customers are not disconnected for non-payment and can work out a payment plan.”
The ACC said weather remains the largest driver of summer electricity costs and advised consumers not to delay seeking assistance if they anticipate difficulty paying upcoming bills. The commission said early communication with utility providers can help customers access support programs and avoid financial hardship.
The commission also provided several energy-saving recommendations for Arizona residents during the summer months, including keeping blinds and curtains closed, using fans for personal cooling, limiting use of high-energy appliances during peak hours, regularly replacing HVAC filters, and investing in smart thermostats or energy-efficient appliances when possible.
According to the ACC, several utility providers and assistance organizations offer relief programs for qualifying customers. Those include Arizona Public Service’s Energy Support Program (ESP) and Crisis Bill Assistance (CBA) resources, Salt River Project assistance programs, Tucson Electric Power’s Power AZ program, UniSource Energy Services payment assistance, and programs administered through Wildfire and community action agencies.
APS is currently seeking a residential rate increase from the ACC of approximately 14.5%. Residents packed a recent hearing to oppose the proposal, while Administrative Law Judge Charles Hains began reviewing testimony and evidence that will inform a recommended rate decision for commissioners to consider.
In a statement to the outlet, APS defended the increase, stating that “… over the past five years, APS has experienced rapidly rising costs of equipment needed to deliver power to customers. One example is transformer costs which are, on average, 49–90% higher now than when our rates were last set.”
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 | May 17, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
State Rep. Ralph Heap (R-LD10) would like to take the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) off the path of green energy and onto a different path in line with President Trump’s energy agenda.
The state’s largest regulated utilities, APS and TEP, are pursuing 14 percent rate hikes with the ACC after receiving other double-digit rate hikes the past few years. Heap, an “Arizona First” candidate, argues that the ACC should be prioritizing ratepayers, and that his approach to the ACC would end the constant upward trend of rates.
Heap’s platform prioritizes individual ratepayers over trendy policy and cash-flush companies: implementing greater protections for rural Arizonans’ energy and water access, rejecting “radical” agendas like the Green New Deal and “corporate welfare” programs, encouraging a free-market energy system, and creating more resistance to rate hikes.
The lawmaker laid claim to the engrossment, passage, or sponsorship of multiple energy-related bills from 2024 to present. Those bills were:
- HB4097: authorizing “bring your own power,” or self-supply, for large customers to expand energy supply options without creating an open retail-choice program;
- HB2679: establishing a defined legal path for financing utility transition costs;
- HCR2022: committing support for nuclear generation through the Palo Verde Generating Station;
- HB2042: creating enforcement on geoengineering activity by prohibiting intentional in-state release of materials for solar radiation management, prohibiting public funding for those technologies, and authorizing attorney general investigations;
- HB2328: limiting rate disparity in intermunicipal water service by requiring municipal providers selling water to another municipality’s public to charge rates constrained by specified comparators;
- HB2331: ensuring reliability within long-range resource planning by requiring covered public power entities and electric utilities to ensure at least 85 percent of relied-on generating capacity comes from reliable resources by 2030;
- HB2915: granting county-administered property tax reductions to homeowners suffering depleted property values due to nearby renewable energy facilities; and,
- HB2918: ending property tax breaks for new utility-scale renewable energy projects.
Since taking office last January, Heap has maintained several leadership positions, including vice chairmanship of the Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee.
Prior to his legislative service and ACC run, Heap practiced orthopedic medicine in the East Valley for nearly 40 years. During that time, he participated in medical missions to developing countries where the presence or absence of reliable energy meant life or death. Heap attributes his “ratepayer first” attitude and interest in reliable, affordable energy to those experiences.
Heap married his high school sweetheart, Denise. Together they have three children—including Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap—and eight grandchildren.
As part of his “ratepayer first” approach, Heap qualified as a Clean Elections candidate. He has sworn against taking money from regulated utilities or their PACs.
Heap has received many endorsements from grassroots leaders along with state and municipal elected officials, including former ACC Commissioner and current state representative Justin Olson (R-LD10), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ-02), and a leading Republican lawmaker who resigned earlier this year to run for Congress, Joseph Chaplik.
Many of the heavyweights in the Arizona legislature put in their support for Heap: Arizona Freedom Caucus leader and State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) as well as State Reps. Michele Pena (R-LD23), Laurin Hendrix (R-LD14), Khyl Powell (R-LD14), Lisa Fink (R-LD27), Rachel Keshel (R-LD17), Alexander Kolodin (R-LD03), Beverly Pingerelli (R-LD), Michael Way (R-LD15), John Gillette (R-LD30), Teresa Martinez (R-LD16), Leo Biasiucci (R-LD30), Pamela Carter (R-LD04), and Chris Lopez (R-LD16).
Among those municipal endorsements were supervisors from Gila and Navajo counties; the mayors of Payson, Snowflake, and Springerville; and council members for Payson.
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
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 Jonathan Eberle | Dec 10, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
The Arizona Corporation Commission recently approved an amendment from Chair Kevin Thompson that he claims cuts more than half of the Arizona Public Service Company’s proposed budget for demand-side management and energy-efficiency programs—removing roughly $51 million in annual surcharges that would have been passed on to ratepayers.
The vote comes as the Commission continues the process of repealing a 2010 energy-efficiency mandate that has driven more than $1 billion in cumulative surcharges on customer bills over the past 15 years. Those surcharges have funded utility-run programs intended to reduce energy consumption and defer the need for new power generation.
APS’ amended 2025 Demand Side Management (DSM) and Energy Efficiency (EE) plan sought $90.9 million—an increase from the $79.4 million approved in 2022. Commissioners unanimously rejected APS’ proposed funding increases for several existing and new programs. Thompson said the cuts were necessary to rein in programs that had expanded far beyond their original purpose.
“I support energy efficiency and demand side management programs that reduce the need for additional generation and lower the costs for all ratepayers,” Thompson said. “But APS’ annual budget for these programs had become a bloated Christmas tree of incentives and rebates for special interests and customers who should be paying for these upgrades on their own.”
According to Thompson, previous Commissions allowed the DSM/EE program to grow beyond its intended goals, resulting in programs that offered rebates for equipment ranging from horticulture fans and livestock ventilation systems to incentives for electric golf carts, off-road utility vehicles, EV charging stations in multifamily buildings, and advanced power strips. The Commission also ended a long-standing practice of providing incentives to home builders and contractors for installing energy-efficient appliances—upgrades already mandated elsewhere in state law.
APS had also proposed new incentives for builders, including a $1,000 rebate per home for installing ENERGY STAR NextGen-certified systems requiring connected heat pumps, water heaters, and smart thermostats. The company had additionally sought to increase its “EV-ready home” incentive from $100 to $200. All of those proposals were rejected.
With Thompson’s amendment, the budget was cut by more than 50%. The approved spending plan now focuses on what commissioners described as core, ratepayer-benefiting programs. Thompson said the revised plan maintains assistance for vulnerable Arizonans while delivering broad relief to all APS customers through lower surcharges.
“We have accomplished a major course correction,” he said, “one that will save APS ratepayers more than $50 million in annual costs while preserving programs that truly help the most vulnerable members of our society.”
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Nov 6, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The newest member of the Tucson City Council is further left than the rest of the council’s Democrats.
That’s because newly elected Tucson Councilwoman Miranda Schubert is a socialist. Schubert’s victory can be credited in part to several powerful national players in progressive politics.
One of those key players is the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The DSA endorsed Schubert; she is also a member of their Tucson chapter.
The DSA platform is the furthest to the left, policywise, on every issue.
The DSA advocates for:
- making all healthcare, college, and childcare free;
- cancelling all student loan debts;
- decriminalizing all drugs;
- abolishing prisons, mandatory minimum sentencing, and cash bail;
- stripping police departments of military-grade weapons and equipment;
- establishing universal rent control;
- providing free counsel for all tenants;
- expanding subsidized housing;
- mandating paid family leave for all workers;
- reducing the regular workweek to 32 hours;
- establishing more unions in the workforce;
- eliminating fossil fuels;
- transferring ownership of transportation and energy infrastructure to the public;
- raising taxes on wealthier families, corporations, and private colleges and universities;
- mandating a permanent ceasefire in Gaza;
- ending military support and commerce to Israel;
- closing overseas bases and reducing the military budget;
- abolishing borders and immigration enforcement;
- ending economic sanctions on foreign countries;
- restoring voting rights to felons;
- granting voting rights to noncitizens;
- establishing statehood for Washington, D.C.;
- abolishing the electoral college;
- adding more House seats;
- ending the Senate filibuster;
- and limiting the Supreme Court’s powers
Schubert’s local DSA in Tucson aligns with this platform, and also supports progressive causes like allowing gender transitions for minors.
Another key player integral to Schubert’s victory was Run For Something (RFS), a political action committee devoted to recruiting and providing campaign assistance to progressive candidates across all 50 states. A former staffer from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, Amanda Litman, and a Democratic Party consultant, Ross Morales Rocketto, launched RFS in 2017.
Schubert was one of two 2025 candidates in Arizona to receive support from RFS. They also provided Schubert support for her unsuccessful council run in 2021; that year she was their only endorsed candidate for Arizona.
IRS records show the social welfare nonprofit arm for RFS — formed in 2020 with the same name as its parent organization — reported over $6 million in revenue, over $9 million in expenditures, and nearly $7 million in total assets in the last available reporting (2023).
Another DSA member won a significant seat across the country on Tuesday night: Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor.
Along with the strength of progressive powerhouses DSA and RFS, Schubert had significant support from the corporate sector: specifically, those assisting in transitioning the state to “clean” energy.
Schubert’s partner, Amanda Maass, is senior managing consultant at Illume Advising, a progressive research and advisory firm with headquarters in Tucson and Madison, Wisconsin. Illume assists utilities, states, and governments with the adoption of “clean” and “green” initiatives such as decarbonization and renewable energy.
Both Arizona Public Service (APS) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) have been Illume clients. In recent years, Illume worked with both to craft a DEI-driven plan to electrify transportation across Arizona.
Illume has close ties to local and state leaders, including Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Pima County Deputy Administrator Steve Holmes, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, and Attorney General Kris Mayes. Romero’s communications and policy advisor, Victor Mercado, was Illume’s marketing and business development principal.
Illume founder and co-owner Anne Dougherty is board chair of the LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund of Southern Arizona, and director for the Arizona Technology Council as well as Groundswell Capital.
Prior to running for council, Schubert founded a labor union for Arizona’s public universities and some community colleges, CWA Local 7065 United Campus Workers of Arizona, and a local housing and transit advocacy group, Tucson for Everyone.
Schubert also served on two city commissions, the Complete Streets Coordinating Council and the Board of Adjustment.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
