The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Terry Finefrock
Tucson Electric Power Company executive guest opinions indicate that they understand that their decisions to generate 86% of their total sales with fossil-fueled generation, only 14% with solar, are causing great avoidable hardships to our community and local governments.
The City of Tucson initiative to establish a Metropolitan Electric Utility was launched in response to TEP's chronic rate increases, heat-trapping emissions, greater electricity use, water use/aquifer depletion, extreme heat, wildfires, damages to utility, public and private property, healthcare and insurance costs.
This is a great opportunity for TEP, City of Tucson and Pima County to work together to quickly define and implement measurable performance metrics that optimize ratepayer benefits, reduce costs/rates, and improve reliability. Actions include increasing TEP and ratepayer solar generation-energy storage within and adjacent to the distribution grids. Essentially, many microgrids.
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Fixed/Lower cost Solar and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) reduce system costs by replacing much more expensive natural gas-fueled power plants and “Peaker” plants that require vulnerable and expensive transmission, gas pipelines, experience fuel price increases and much greater operating and maintenance (O & M) costs.
Solar/BESS are also advantageous because they can be replaced incrementally, a megawatt at a time, as new technology becomes available.
TEP can quickly improve RELIABILITY and AFFORDABILTY issues by increasing its solar-energy storage to 50% of sales by 2030, and by creating programs to establish Residential, Commercial, Government Service Ratepayer Solar-Storage systems within the Distribution Grid that reduce loads, operating-maintenance and the need for INCREMENTAL transmission costs.
The Nov. 23 opinion “Solar, Storage Among TEP Solutions” by Chris Norman TEP VP of Public Policy illustrates TEP’s lack of transparency, full disclosure, why it’s difficult to work with them, and why electricity costs continue to increase. In sunny Arizona, their choice to generate just 14% of sales with SOLAR-BESS, 86% with fossil fuels, indicates that solar is a very low priority “solution”. Citing the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) he states that the capital cost of new natural gas plants for their Springerville operations costs less than equivalent capacity for a Solar powered Plant.
However, when I googled EIA to validate that “fact”, I found that he omitted the EIA information that Utility-scale solar has much lower operational (maintenance/labor) cost of $0.02/kwh, while natural gas plant costs range from $0.138 to $0.262 per kWh. This is critical because according to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (June 26, 2023), Arizona utilities as an industry pay the highest average wages of all Arizona industries. He also criticizes solar for “requiring” energy storage, which ignores the fact that ratepayers are already paying for expensive natural gas fired Peaker plants required to balance the non-dispatchable fossil-fueled base load plants that TEP Management has selected.
TEP, our ACC, need to consider ALL options and ALL costs of each option for the expected life of the components when determining optimal, reliable and affordable resource plans.
Our community has rooftops, parking lots, malls, etc., on which solar generation can be quickly established.
For example, Midtown University of Arizona and Banner Hospital have the capacity to construct lower-cost solar-BESS on their properties to reduce their costs, avoiding chronic rate increases that increase the cost and prices of the services they provide. Banner purchases most of its electricity from TEP. UAZ buys 60% of its power, exports UAZ Student revenues, from TEP/Fortis New Mexico Wind farm and generates 40 percent of the university’s power with natural gas/methane power plants on its midtown property.
To reduce costs, Banner and the UA should add solar electric facilities and replace Natural Gas Plants with BESS, and TEP should add BESS to those midtown substations. These actions would eliminate the need for the dangerous, high-voltage midtown “Reliability” transmission lines within a population center and associated 8% energy losses that TEP is constructing to increase their profits.
TEP is currently active in creating a new Resource Plan for submission to the ACC in May 2026, which presents a huge opportunity to actually avoid/reduce costs and rates.
Opportunity knocks. Will our community leadership and businesses answer?
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
Terry Finefrock is a long-term Tucson area resident, retired Corporate Director, Pima County Government Manager. He has extensive experience with ACC rule making, solar electric facility development and continuous business process improvement.
