Local opinion: Tucson families are paying more to stay cool while TEP pushes rate hike

An unseasonably hot spring in Arizona means many of us have had to crank up the AC far earlier than normal just to be comfortable in our homes. Unfortunately, with utility prices — and now gasoline prices — skyrocketing, it’s harder than ever to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, Tucson Electric Power is seeking to raise rates for residential and business customers. Their proposal would increase the average residential bill by $196/year — at a time when 161,000 Arizona families are already behind on their utility bills.

But not everyone is feeling the crunch. TEP’s parent company, Fortis Inc., reported net earnings of $1.7 billion for 2025. Yet, TEP received a 10% increase in 2023 and now is seeking an additional 14% hike — which well exceeds inflation.

I’m a single mom and an organizer with Moms Clean Air Force. My advocacy work is driven by a vision for a healthier future for my son and families like mine. But it’s hard to set my son up for the life I want for him when it’s so hard to cover the costs of our basic needs–and when TEP is investing in expensive, polluting energy sources that put my family’s wellbeing at risk.

TEP plans to meet growing electricity demand with new natural-gas-fired power plants, which produce large amounts of pollution that is linked to asthma attacks and respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. This pollution is especially dangerous for kids, whose bodies are smaller and still developing.

Burning fossil fuels — like natural gas — also releases climate-warming pollution that drives more frequent and intense heat waves, and ultimately increases demand for cooling in a vicious feedback cycle that leaves families with even higher bills. This isn’t some future threat. The U.S. is experiencing periods of abnormally hot weather at least three times more often than in the 1960s. Climate change made this latest heat wave five times more likely. And this intense heat makes air pollution problems even worse.

On top of all this, natural gas isn’t produced or stored in Arizona, leaving the state’s ratepayers vulnerable to price fluctuations.

Fortunately, TEP has another choice. They can, and should, invest in clean energy. New natural gas plants cost far more than solar or wind. Rooftop and utility-scale solar can be built faster and cheaper than gas plants, and so can battery storage. Plus, clean energy sources like solar and wind do not produce any of the dangerous pollution that jeopardizes our health and our future. This is the key to addressing skyrocketing energy demand, which shows no sign of easing anytime soon.

Then there’s the influx of data centers that are draining energy from the grid, which makes clean energy investments and ratepayer protections even more urgent. Arizona has more than 160 data centers currently. Arizona Public Service estimates data centers will account for 55% of its future electricity needs. And in August 2025, TEP asked state regulators to approve an agreement to supply a major data center project in Pima County with 286 megawatts of electricity. Customers like me shouldn’t be forced to bear the financial burden of these data center needs, and if TEP meets this moment with more fossil-fueled energy generation, it will just lock the region into decades of dirty, expensive energy.

At the same time, the Trump administration’s attack on clean energy has pushed electricity costs up by as much as 13% nationwide. These policy changes will continue to take energy off the grid, raising Arizonans’ household energy bills by more than $200 by 2035.

Instead of investing in clean energy that protects consumers from volatile price shocks, current federal policy is leaving families exposed. With the federal government failing us, state and local leadership is more important than ever.

We need cheap and reliable energy to ensure Arizonans can survive the heat and afford their utility bills. What we don’t need is another rate hike that would make TEP richer while Arizona families struggle to pay their bills. Families need relief — not a heavier burden.