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 dumpfrom Kevin Thompson, Chairman of the Corporation Commission, blasting the idea of reopening Cholla…
Arizona utilities providers recently revealed plans to partner with an emerging energy market.
Earlier this week, representatives from Arizona Public Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP), Tucson Electric Power (TEP), and UniSource Energy Services made news by announcing that their utility companies would be joining Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) Markets+. The partnership would take place starting in 2027 if the fledgling market receives the final green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
According to the release issued by the state energy providers, an energy market “is an interconnected network of electricity providers that help meet the supply and demand of power across a specific geography and include transmission pathways for electricity to travel from one location to another.” For example, “When demand is lower, the Arizona utilities can sell energy, like excess solar power during the winter season, to maintain a balanced electric system, while also taking advantage of cost-savings opportunities.”
The Arizona utilities promise “increased reliability, greater cost savings, [and] more clean energy” for state customers after the partnership would take effect. It is projected that this market would save approximately $100 million from the status quo, which would be, in part, realized by the energy customers of the participating companies.
“Arizona is one of the fastest growing states in the country and we are thoughtfully planning for the future and evolving our operations to continue to provide top-tier service and reliability to our customers at an affordable cost,” said Brian Cole, APS Vice President of Resource Management. “Together with our neighboring utilities, APS plans to join Markets+ to efficiently deliver energy and bolster the resilience of our shared energy grid in Arizona and across the region.”
“SRP’s participation in SPP Markets+ is a key component of our plan to meet the growing energy needs of our customers reliably and affordably and will help us achieve our 2035 Sustainability Goals,” said Josh Robertson, SRP Director of Energy Market Strategy. “We look forward to working with utilities in the region to bring the cost and resilience benefits to our respective customers.”
“Tucson Electric Power and UniSource Energy Services are excited about the value that Markets+ can provide to our customers, including cost savings and greater access to clean energy and other resources that support affordable, reliable service,” said Erik Bakken, TEP Senior Vice President. “We look forward to strengthening an already collaborative, productive relationship with Southwest Power Pool, our reliability coordinator, in its new role as market operator.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizonans are using a lot of energy throughout this hot summer in the Valley of the Sun.
Last week, the Arizona Corporation Commission issued a press release to alert readers that Arizona electric utilities had “set new records for peak energy demand.”
According to the communication from the state government agency, the record for peak energy was reached on Sunday, August 4, between 5-6pm, when the high temperature for that day was 116 degrees Fahrenheit.
Republican Corporation Commissioner Kevin Thompson told AZ Free News, “Our utilities have done an exceptional job of keeping the lights on and air flowing through new record setting peak demand this summer. There’s no coincidence to the fact that despite our extreme heat and load growth, Arizona hasn’t suffered the same crippling energy pitfalls of California. Arizona regulators have focused on an ‘all of the above’ generation approach bolstered with dispatchable baseload to keep our grid reliable and affordable. This Commission has worked relentlessly to do away with energy mandates that cost ratepayers more money and get in the way of what utilities should be primarily focused on: generating electricity.”
“Our utilities continue to deliver reliable power in the face of excessive temperatures and ever-increasing electricity demand. Arizona continues to be ranked in the top ten of states with the most reliable power—a critical statistic for which each of us is thankful during these record-breaking temperatures,” said Chairman Jim O’Connor.
Arizona Public Service (APS) used 8,212 MW on August 4 (compared to 8,162 MW on that date in 2023). Salt River Project used 8,219 MW in 2024 (compared to 8,163 MW in 2023). And TEP / UNS just barely missed out on the record, finishing with 2,917 MW on July 8 (compared to 2,969 MW in 2023). On August 4, TEP’s peak demand reached 2,661 MW.
“Our utilities are facing unprecedented challenges in balancing the needs of our energy demands during this hot summer while ensuring energy reliability at the most affordable rates,” said Commissioner Lea MárquezPeterson. “Their summer preparedness planning for peak demand is vitally important to keeping our families safe and cool in the summer.”
The Commission shared that these utilities have made assurances “that they are prepared to produce a combined total of more than 23,000 megawatts of electricity to meet customers’ daily summer demands.” APS has 1.3 million customers; SRP, 1.1 million customers; and TEP / UNS, 719,000 customers.
At the end of its release, the Commission “encourages Arizonans to be mindful and help reduce electric demand during peak hours. Actions, such as lowering energy use during peak hours and signing up for demand response programs can contribute to reducing overall customer demand and reducing monthly electric bills.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Energy executives overseeing Arizona’s utility companies stand to gain financially for adherence to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria — namely, whether they stay on track to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050.
According to Arizona Public Service’s (APS) holding company Pinnacle West (PNW) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) report last year, they link 20 percent of compensation based on Clean Energy Commitment performance — specifically, the total number of “clean megawatts installed” over a period of three years.
Altogether, PNW’s seven executives made about $21.5 million last year.
PNW’s Clean Energy Commitment is to achieve a resource mix of 65 percent clean energy (45 percent of that coming from renewable energy) by 2030, end APS coal-fired generation by 2031, and ultimately transition completely to carbon-free electricity and eradicate all carbon emissions by 2050.
PNW’s progress on its Clean Energy Commitment has earned it a top-100 ranking with Energy Intelligence since 2019. In 2005, the company had achieved 24 percent clean energy; since 2019, they have maintained 50 percent clean energy. The company projects that they will reach 65 percent clean energy by 2030.
As part of their commitment, APS plans to add at least 2,500 megawatts of clean energy technologies such as solar and storage by 2025. In their 2022 SEC report, PNW projected the addition of 210 megawatts of utility-scale solar energy, 238 megawatts of wind energy, and 341 megawatts of energy storage. They also reported that APS had 2,400 megawatts of renewable capacity at present and over one million solar panels across their 10 grid-scale solar plants.
PNW reports that APS has been integrating ESG practices for nearly 30 years, but have undertaken extra steps in recent years to prioritize it. Their entire board “dedicates a significant amount of time to ESG matters,” and the company formed a Sustainability department to integrate ESG into everyday APS work and an ESG Executive Council to guide the company’s ESG pathway. That latter entity, the council, measures and reports on Clean Energy Commitment actions.
The company also tasked multiple committees to advance ESG: “Environmental” is handled by the Nuclear and Operating Committee, “Social” is handled by both Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility as well as Human Resources Committees, and “Governance” is handled by the Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility Committee.
The Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility Committee also reviews ESG trends that may impact the company. Earlier this year, PNW amended the committee’s charter to include oversight of climate change-related issues and strategies for response.
As for the Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and UNS Energy Corporation (UNS), their owner, Fortis, offers an ESG-related financial incentive of 10 percent for its executives. Fortis executives made over $4.5 million last year.
The ESG incentive is part of Fortis’ “sustainability and people performance,” factored for the first time last year. It carries a 40 percent performance pay incentive; in addition to ESG leadership, it includes the weighting factors of safety (10 percent); diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (10 percent); and reliability (10 percent).
This year, Fortis raised the ESG incentive to 15 percent, and added climate and emissions priorities as well as a DEI objective.
Similar to PNW, Fortis has a 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goal, which includes a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 75 percent reduction by 2035. They established a Governance and Sustainability Committee to oversee their emissions reduction goals.
Fortis has planned additions of 3,500 megawatts of wind, solar, and storage energy expansions through 2035. In doing so, Fortis projected by 2032 that TEP will achieve a coal-free generation mix and eliminate the use of surface water-generated power and groundwater use by 70 percent. Additionally, TEP is scheduled to have more than 40 percent of its power derived from wind, solar, and battery storage by 2030, and then over 60 percent by 2033.
Last year, Fortis amended its $1.3 billion revolving credit facility to become a sustainability-linked loan; meaning, its pricing adjustments are now linked to goals related to carbon emissions and board diversity.
Both APS and TEP are part of the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM), established in 2014. The WEIM allows participants to buy and sell renewable energy power based on need, and offers visibility of neighboring grids. If one utility has excess hydroelectric, solar, or wind power, the ISO will deliver that energy where needed elsewhere.
APS entered the WEIM in 2016, and TEP entered in 2022. Also members are the Salt River Project (SRP), joined in 2020, and the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Desert Southwest Region, joined in 2023.
As reported earlier this month, the world’s largest globalist investors are now backing the ESG push across Arizona’s utility companies.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
