James Aidala: TEP wants us to pay for its anti-climate lobbying

The images of Los Angeles burning are the stuff of nightmares, and the nightmare is drifting toward us all. While I was with my family for the holidays, we kept a constant watch on the local stations in case my brother had to evacuate from Santa Ana. Thankfully, for now, he remains in an unaffected area, but we have yet to see the end of this disaster and the beginnings of many more. I fear we won’t always be so lucky.

More than fear, however, I find myself enraged that corporations who profit off the potential charring of my family, including Tucson Electric Power (TEP), would so brazenly raise their prices on us to continue doing so. As the Energy Policy Institute reports, TEP is seeking to collect an additional $2.1 million in the coming days to pay for dues to corporate trade associations and chambers of commerce. For those unaware, trade associations are the functional corporate equivalent of unions to push and expand their interests, including political ones. For TEP, this includes $1.3 million to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and almost $200k to the American Gas Association (AGA), despite not being a gas distributor. As for what these organizations get up to, AGA of course lobbies to expand fracking and natural gas infrastructure despite the urgent need to shift away from it.

At the same time, EEI has been trying to kill a Biden administration rule to limit fossil fuel plant pollution. These trade associations find it in their members’ best interests to be able to pollute more and send more carbon into the atmosphere. I don’t find it at all weird or radical to think my electricity bill should not pay for these activities.

TEP plans to construct a 400 MW natural gas plant, a project that will consume more resources that should be fully invested into renewables. TEP has also fought against Just Transition funds for communities impacted by fossil fuel pollution, such as those in the Navajo Nation, and has reduced rooftop solar credits for its customers by 10% as recently as October of 2023. Taken together, it is hard for me to find any pattern besides this: TEP cares little about climate, its customers, or anyone on the planet apart from itself and those who reap profits at our expense.

But who does reap the profits? None other than Canadian energy conglomerate Fortis, the owner of TEP with substantial amounts of its investments in fossil fuels.

Thankfully, there is a potential solution to stop trading the planet for rich people’s money; the City of Tucson is conducting a feasibility study on replacing TEP with a publicly owned utility. Tell Mayor Regina Romero and the Tucson City Council that we have had enough; take our power back and make Tucson a more sustainable and affordable city.