by Jonathan Eberle | Oct 25, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Arizona Public Service (APS) is seeking to raise electricity rates by 14% starting in 2026 — a move the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AZFEC) argues would unfairly burden Arizona families while subsidizing costly “green energy” initiatives and the early closure of a key coal plant.
According to filings with the Arizona Corporation Commission, APS attributes the proposed rate increase largely to battery storage projects and the early retirement of the Cholla Power Plant. The Arizona Free Enterprise Club filed an official response criticizing APS for attempting to block the organization’s intervention in the case, while allowing environmental groups such as the Sierra Club to participate. “APS has no issue letting radical groups like the Sierra Club into their hearings, but they’re trying to block the one organization fighting for Arizona families,” said AZFEC President Scot Mussi.
Mussi contends APS’s “carbon free” and “carbon neutral” commitments over the past five years have shaped their energy plans — including their Integrated Resource Plans and large-scale renewable energy projects — resulting in higher costs for consumers. “For years, their voluntary commitments have very likely increased costs for Arizona ratepayers,” the organization said in its filing.
Two days after filing its response, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club announced it had been officially granted intervention in the APS case. This designation allows AZFEC to participate directly in proceedings, making it the only organization representing ratepayers who oppose the rate hike.
In the ruling, the Administrative Law Judge overseeing the case described the Club as “the lone proponent” of an energy approach emphasizing reliability, affordability, and independence — priorities the group says align with President Trump’s “American Energy Dominance” agenda.
“While others are lobbying to shut down Arizona’s coal plants and pour billions into unreliable Green New Scam projects, we’re standing up for the ratepayers who will be left to foot the bill,” Mussi said. “We’re proud to be the only organization in this case fighting to keep Arizona’s energy secure, affordable, and free from political interference.”
The Club’s participation ensures that Arizona ratepayers have a voice during the proceedings, according to Mussi and AZFEC Deputy Policy Director Greg Blackie. “This isn’t about politics — it’s about protecting Arizona families and ensuring that our state doesn’t fall victim to the same radical energy policies destroying affordability across the country,” said Blackie. “We intend to shine a light on the real costs, the real numbers, and the real consequences of this so-called green transition.”
The case before the Arizona Corporation Commission will determine whether APS can move forward with its proposed rate hike. The Arizona Free Enterprise Club says it plans to continue pressing for “transparency, accountability, and energy freedom,” ensuring that “ratepayers are not forced to fund reckless green energy policies.”
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jun 14, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
Earlier this year, President Trump signed a trio of executive orders aimed at keeping our nation’s vital coal power plants online. In fact, at the signing ceremony, the President explicitly called out one of Arizona’s coal plants by name. He directed Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright to keep the Cholla Power Plant online and told the workers to remain calm because they are going to have that plant “opening and burning…coal in a very short period of time.”
The Cholla Power Plant is one of many Arizona coal plants that have either been mothballed or slated for retirement in the near future. In 2019, SRP and the other utilities shut down the Navajo Generating Station, resulting in a loss of 2,250 MW of reliable capacity. Earlier this year, an additional 425 MW of generating capacity was taken offline at Cholla. And over the next 6 years, Arizona’s public utilities, as outlined in Integrated Resource Plans recently approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission, plan to shutter every last bit of coal generation in Arizona by 2032. Most alarming is that according to those same Resource Plans, the replacement fuel for this reliable source of energy will be solar, wind, and battery storage, all to meet carbon free “Net Zero” goals that will cost Arizona ratepayers billions and destabilize the grid.
On the same day President Trump signed the coal orders, the Arizona legislature, led by Representative David Marshall, sent a letter to the Department of the Interior urging the Administration to help keep Cholla, and every other coal plant in the state, online. Last month, every Republican in the legislature voted to send HCM2014 to the Corporation Commission, urging them to protect our grid, fight to keep these plants online, and support the Trump Energy Agenda.
What Arizona ratepayers got instead was a late Friday afternoon news dump from Kevin Thompson, Chairman of the Corporation Commission, blasting the idea of reopening Cholla…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Apr 30, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
For the past decade, our organization has been fighting the Green New Deal agenda in Arizona, working to score a decisive victory for reliable and affordable energy. Thanks to President Trump, that decisive victory now appears within reach.
Earlier this month, President Trump released three new executive orders and one proclamation, all aimed at unleashing American energy abundance. These executive actions are all part of a coordinated White House effort to initiate a tidal shift in the ever-steady march toward the Net Zero nightmare being pursued by radical environmentalists, the green industrial complex, and public utilities across the nation.
For years, energy regulators have forewarned of the impending grid crisis due to the overreliance on costly renewable energy, yet the previous administration only accelerated the catastrophe. The new Trump Executive Orders, coupled with his declaration of a National Energy Emergency, will directly address this crisis by ending the regulatory discrimination against coal, empowering the domestic mining of coal resources, encouraging the development of coal energy generation, and allowing for these activities to take place on federal lands.
Reigniting the American coal industry couldn’t happen soon enough. While China and India are building new coal plants at unprecedented rates to power their economic growth, we have been aggressively shutting our plants down…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Matthew Holloway | Apr 27, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
During the Arizona Corporation Commission’s annual Summer Preparedness Workshop, Chair Kevin Thompson and Vice Chair Nick Myers essentially echoed the talking points of Arizona Public Service Company (APS) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP). Both utility companies implicitly refused to reactivate the Cholla and Springerville Coal-Fired Power Plants in defiance of President Trump’s Executive Order earlier this month. Thompson claimed doing so would “jeopardize the grid and burden ratepayers with millions of dollars in short-sighted costs.”
In early April, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) using emergency authority to keep APS’ Cholla Power Plant in operation. In a statement issued with the EO, Trump said, “I am instructing Secretary Wright to save the Cholla coal plant in Arizona, which has been slated for destruction. We’re going to keep those coal miners on the job. We’re going to have that plant opening and burning beautiful, clean coal in a very short period of time.”
According to an emailed release from the ACC, the APS representative at the workshop “stated that the process that culminated in closing the plant began ten years ago because of new regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) making the operation of the plant uneconomic for their customers.” The utility added, per the ACC that “because of the ongoing EPA regulations requiring new equipment for pollution control and significant deferred capital and maintenance investments that would have to be made, the re-opening and continued operation of the Cholla plant would come at a significantly high cost for customers.”
APS reiterated that it intends to preserve the infrastructure of the power plant and offered that it could be used as a potential site for nuclear or natural gas power later, implicitly refusing to bring the coal-fired plant back online.
Similarly, TEP confirmed that it still intends to move forward with the scheduled retirement of Units 1 and 2 at the coal-fired Springerville Generating Station after the summer of 2027 and after the summer of 2032. The utility is also exploring the possibility of repurposing the power station for an alternative fuel source.
Vice Chair Myers commented, “We’re all aware of the detrimental loss of electric capacity with the closure of Arizona coal plants, and in part because of ongoing EPA regulations. It is a day late and a dollar short when it comes to re-opening the Cholla plant. Trying to re-open Cholla at this point would result in significantly higher rates for customers,” repeating the APS talking point.
He added, “The utilities have already been planning for this retirement and replacement costs are already being born by the utility customers. Re-opening Cholla would also require significant capital and maintenance investments that have been deferred. Further, the EPA requirements that made the continued operation of Cholla not cost-effective are still in effect. The damage has already been done. Arizona utilities are prepared for that and already planning to repurpose those plants for future generation, such as nuclear or natural gas-fired power.”
“Bringing the Cholla plant into compliance with Obama era EPA requirements will require the installation of costly scrubbers on the coal-fired units that would cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Chair Kevin Thompson.
Thompson added a subtle critique of the President’s movement to reactivate the Cholla Generating Station saying, “The Commission must hold utilities accountable and ensure that we have reliable and dispatchable generation to meet the load demands of the future. We also have to make sure we accomplish that goal in a manner that doesn’t jeopardize the grid and burden ratepayers with millions of dollars in short-sighted costs that fail to meaningfully address our long-term energy needs.”
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 | Apr 11, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona Republican Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) celebrated President Donald Trump’s Executive Order using emergency authority to keep the Cholla Power Plant in Navajo County in operation.
“While most politicians ignore the will of We the People, President Trump takes decisive action. By saving the Cholla Power Plant from imminent closure, hardworking Arizonans will maintain their jobs and livelihoods,” Rep. Crane said in a statement. “For years, radical environmentalists tried to destroy the once thriving coal industry. Under President Trump’s leadership, those days are officially over. This is a huge win for Navajo County, and I applaud the President and his team for delivering.”
In a statement signing the Executive order Trump said, “I am instructing Secretary Wright to save the Cholla coal plant in Arizona, which has been slated for destruction. We’re going to keep those coal miners on the job. We’re going to have that plant opening and burning beautiful, clean coal in a very short period of time.”
The text of the Executive order stated, “America’s coal resources are vast, with a current estimated value in the trillions of dollars and are more than capable of substantially contributing to American energy independence, with excess to export to support allies and our economic competitiveness.”
“Our nation’s beautiful clean coal resources will be critical to meeting the rise in electricity demand due to the resurgence of domestic manufacturing and the construction of artificial intelligence data-processing centers.”
The move by Trump was also praised by Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren who shared a lengthy statement to X, saying in part, “Today marks a pivotal moment for energy policy in the United States. As President Trump signs an executive order aimed at revitalizing the coal industry, I want to emphasize the importance of including tribal nations like the Navajo Nation in this national conversation.”
Nygren added, “The harmful policies of the past have unfairly targeted coal, but those tides are turning. Last year, the U.S. produced over 1 billion tons of coal, and even now, we are producing more than 500 million tons annually. If the federal government is serious about increasing domestic energy production, enhancing permitting, and bolstering energy security, it must work in partnership with tribal nations. Together, we can strengthen local economies, generate revenue, and create good-paying jobs in historically underinvested areas like ours. For the Navajo Nation, coal is more than an export—it has powered our homes and our economy since the mid-20th century. Our people have depended on the royalties, wages, and tax revenues from this industry for generations. Coal has also remained a primary heating source for many Diné families.”
Speaking with AZCentral, APS, which owns the Cholla Power Plant stated, “APS stopped generating electricity at Cholla last month, in accordance with federal regulations and due to increasing costs that have made the plant uneconomical to operate.”
The utility said, “We plan to preserve the site for potential future-generation uses, including the possibility of nuclear power. At this time, APS has already procured reliable and cost-effective generation that will replace the energy previously generated by Cholla Power Plant.“
The contradictory statement leaves questions around whether the plant will resume operation in the immediate future.
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.
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