by Matthew Holloway | Jun 18, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona Corporation Commissioners Nick Myers and Kevin Thompson responded to reports of an upcoming primary challenge from State Representative Dr. Ralph Heap and running mate Rep. David Marshall with a surprising attack against both candidates and two of the most prominent conservative organizations in the state. After Heap confirmed his 2026 candidacy for the Commission in a call with the Arizona Republic, incumbents Thompson and Myers reportedly blasted Heap and Marshall as “special interest proxies who have been recruited to return politics into ratemaking.”
Myers would even go as far as to claim that the two GOP challengers are in the service of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AZFEC) and Turning Point USA (TPUSA), telling the Republic that both want “good puppets” on the Corporation Commission.
Responding to the remarks, Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi told the Republic that Myers and Thompason were “pretty on brand,” and added, “They always resort to attacks and attacking whoever they can to avoid having to address the substance of what’s being brought to them.”
Turning Point Action spokesman Andrew Kolvet told the outlet, “We have no idea what the commissioner means by ‘puppet,’ as we have had zero contact with any current commissioners since they have taken office.” He stated that TPUSA considers AZFEC to be “an ally.”
Although the Corporation Commission came fully under Republican control in January, the stakes for Arizona voters are high given that APS has requested yet another rate increase on top of the 8% increase it was given in 2024.
Commissioners Thompson and Myers have also drawn the ire of many Republicans by echoing the talking points of APS and Tucson Electric Power (TEP), when both utilities refused to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order to reactivate the Cholla and Springerville coal-fired power plants. As previously reported by AZ Free News, Thompson claimed that doing so would “jeopardize the grid and burden ratepayers with millions of dollars in short-sighted costs.” He also criticized the President’s intervention 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.”
He added, “Managing highly intricate systems like our electrical grid is far more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Continued calls from certain elected officials to reopen Cholla does nothing more than promote financially reckless solutions.”
The Commission’s refusal to follow the Trump administration’s energy agenda and pushback toward efforts to eliminate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies has placed it at odds with the Republican-controlled state legislature—along with the Arizona Freedom Caucus, AZFEC, and the Goldwater Institute.
Speaking to reporters, Myers accused AZFEC and TPUSA of “making things up,” claiming, “They’ve basically been trying to run us through the mud for every little thing they can drum up.”
However, Mussi explained that the Free Enterprise Club has had “a multitude of issues,” with the Commission. “There’s been a multitude of issues that they have shown no interest in working on,” he said. “And when these issues are brought up, rather than engaging on them, they have usually gone and attacked not just us, but whoever is bringing the policies that they disagree with addressing.” In particular he pointed to APS and TEP’s integrated resource plans, which lean heavily on wind and solar generation as opposed to coal, natural gas and nuclear, and AZFEC’s drive to terminate “California-style, Green New Deal policies.”
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 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 Daniel Stefanski | Dec 2, 2024 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
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.
by Kevin Thompson | Sep 16, 2024 | Opinion
By Kevin Thompson |
The Corporation Commission recently unanimously voted to support Tucson Electric Power’s (“TEP”) Midtown Reliability Project (“Midtown”). The Midtown project is a much-needed improvement for the City of Tucson’s antiquated and overloaded 46kV sub-transmission system. The equipment will be upgraded to a 138kV system in the area adjacent to the University of Arizona and Banner University Medical Center. The project would also replace a portion of the 4kV distribution lines located in the Midtown neighborhoods. These systems are over 50 years old and no longer meet the needs and demands of the area as the system has become increasingly overstrained and unstable.
Fragile wooden poles that are susceptible to damage will be replaced with larger capacity metal poles and more powerful transmission lines. Up to eight 46kV existing substations and 19 miles of current 46kV line will be removed, resulting in a reduced number of substations and overhead power lines in Midtown Tucson. The upgrades will benefit all of TEP’s customers; the transmission lines will improve system redundancy and grid resiliency, allowing power to bypass lines and areas that might be down or overloaded. In supporting the proposal, the Commission rejected calls by the City of Tucson leadership and neighborhood groups who demanded the new lines be “undergrounded” as opposed to the standard more affordable above ground installation.
Tucson voters overwhelmingly rejected Prop 412 in March 2023, which was supported by Tucson’s Mayor and TEP. The proposition would have extended TEP’s franchise agreement with the city, and in return would have established additional fees to fund the undergrounding of the Midtown project and establish a “Climate Action Fund.” The defeat left the franchise agreement renewal in limbo, but it also required TEP to move forward with an alternative plan to complete the needed and already delayed improvement. City leaders continued to call for the undergrounding of equipment, a beautification effort where costs would have been picked up by all TEP ratepayers, not just the customers who will benefit from the Midtown project improvements.
During the Commission proceedings, some claimed the incremental cost difference between underground and above ground lines was negligible, and that the historic nature of the area and neighborhoods called for a greater standard of beautification. There are two important responses to those viewpoints. First, the region already has above ground power lines. Any sort of undergrounding would be a luxury the area currently doesn’t enjoy. And as previously noted, the above ground upgrades will actually reduce the total number of transmission lines and substations. Second, there is a huge price difference. Project estimates for the cost difference between underground and above ground are $64 million dollars. An additional $64 million that would have to be funded by all TEP ratepayers, the far majority of whom live nowhere near Midtown.
Last year, the Commission adopted a transmission line policy statement that utilities under the Commission’s jurisdiction should avoid incurring higher costs from underground installation of transmission lines unless it was necessary for reliability or safety purposes. Undergrounding lines for purposes such as stakeholder or community preferences are not valid reasons on their own. And concerned third parties such as cities or neighborhood groups can still seek to cover the cost difference to underground through other means such as forming an improvement district.
With most rate design, there’s a degree of “subsidization” that exists, wherein equipment upgrades or power line installations are spread out across an entire ratepayer base for that utility’s customers. However, when a project or proposal clearly only benefits a small subset of customers, it is our duty as a Commission to look out for all ratepayers. We must ensure the desires of a few do not adversely impact the pocketbooks of the many.
It’s not uncommon for the Commission to review proposals that subscribe to what some refer to as “luxury beliefs.” Ideas and opinions that benefit a group of people who are better off while often inflicting greater costs or more harm on less fortunate classes. We see this most frequently amongst climatism promoters, who advocate to end the use of hydrocarbons and rapidly transform our electric grid, with no concerns for the price tag to ratepayers. It’s akin to advocating for ratepayers to subsidize electric vehicle charging stations that benefit a small set of utility customers, while the far majority of other customers either do not want an electric vehicle or can’t afford one.
During the hearing, proponents of line undergrounding attempted to rationalize the cost increase due to the unique history and beauty of the area. They argued the monthly cost to underground the Midtown project is negligible when spread out across the entire customer base. While I am sympathetic to the preferences of property owners, how can I as an elected official possibly rationalize to ratepayers in South Tucson that their neighborhood isn’t worthy of receiving the same special treatment?
With this vote, the Commission honored the will of Tucson voters and protected the pocketbooks of TEP ratepayers. We also took big steps to improve the long-term reliability and durability for all TEP customers in the Tucson area.
Kevin Thompson was elected as a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2022. He previously served as a member of the Mesa City Council for eight years, representing the fastest-growing area of the city.
by Matthew Holloway | Sep 12, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
During its meeting on September 5th, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), led by Republican Commissioner Nick Myers, voted unanimously to approve a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) allowing the Midtown Reliability Project of the Tucson Electric Power (TEP) company to move forward.
The project is a comprehensive upgrade to the now-overloaded 46 kV high-voltage transmission lines that run through midtown Tucson to a “more flexible, higher voltage” 138 kV monopole line above ground, according to a press release from the Commission.
A major controversy unfolded with some in Tucson calling upon the ACC to select a partially underground routing that would increase the cost of the project by millions of dollars and meet the expense through an end-user fee.
Commissioner Myers commented after the vote, “I understand why some Tucson residents would want this project constructed below ground. However, constructing the project below ground is not needed for safety, reliability or other utility operational reasons; therefore, it is not acceptable for all TEP customers to shoulder the $67 million cost for undergrounding the project.”
He added, “I am pleased the Commission approved this important grid-reliability project, while at the same time protecting TEP customers from unnecessary undergrounding expenses.”
In a corresponding press release, TEP explained, “The ACC voted unanimously today to authorize above-ground construction along TEP’s preferred route for the project, which primarily follows West Grant Road, North Park Avenue, Euclid Avenue and East 36th Street to link two TEP substations to the planned Vine Substation north of the University of Arizona campus. The ACC also authorized construction along an alternative route. An interactive map of the approved corridors can be viewed online.”
The utility added a timeframe saying, “With growing energy demands nearly reaching the capacity of existing, lower-voltage facilities, TEP will work to complete the transmission line and substation by the summer of 2027 to maintain service reliability.”
Myers’ fellow Republican, ACC Chairman Jim O’Connor, told KOLD, “A big kudo to the parties for finding a solution that will enable this project to move forward. This transmission project will further enhance reliability and modernize a critical portion of our electric grid in Tucson.”
The local outlet noted that a sticking point for the project has been pushback from the midtown community and many advocating for subterranean lines. In 2023, KOLD’s Jack Cooper wrote in a post to X that the opposition to the above-ground routing were “worried about property values and want the lines buried.” However, as the ACC noted in its release, “The Commission unanimously decided to protect ratepayers from that financial impact.”
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.
