The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Terry Finefrock
Our elected Commissioners at the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) have the authority to create enormous value for Arizona but have declined to do so. Instead of creating value they are allowing and exacerbating avoidable damages and costs charged to ratepayers and taxpayers.
New technology is now available to replace conventional fossil-fueled electricity generation that creates heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions and loses billions of gallons of precious water to evaporation.
The emissions increase temperatures which cause increased electricity usage, healthcare issues to our low income and senior populations, extreme heat and weather events, wildfires and significant damages and costs to our communities. Because conventional generation also creates emissions that are toxic to humans, they must be located long distances from the populations they serve, requiring expensive and vulnerable transmission infrastructure that loses about 8% of the electricity during transmission. The avoidable costs to cope with those consequences are paid by ratepayers and taxpayers, individuals and businesses.
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Although the fuel, operating and maintenance costs of conventional generation continue to increase as demonstrated by chronic million-dollar fuel surcharges and rate increases, the ACC continues to approve more natural gas-fueled generation (Nogales, AZ, UNES).
It is important to recognize that methane that is released when natural gas is mined is 80 times more heat-trapping than coal carbon emissions, and that suppliers would reduce methane emissions if our utilities stopped using your electricity bill revenues to purchase natural gas.
The current ACC also continues to constrain Ratepayer “Competition”, Self-Generation, Community Choice Aggregation, with Utilities and provide Investor-Owned Utilities with Captive Customers and Net Incomes that are greater than competitive market corporations. Our Utilities have no incentives to evolve and provide a Customer Centric Continuous Improvement Culture.
Fixed and lower cost solar electric generation and energy storage technology is now available and could be used to reduce 80% of current fossil fueled generation by 2030, to improve reliability, resilience, retain ratepayer revenues in Arizona, and to provide orders to Arizona mining companies and new semiconductor, photocell, and battery Manufacturers. Increased trade within Arizona would increase tax revenues without increasing tax rates and would create more taxpayers and ratepayers for utilities.
Solar electric/Energy Storage technologies use minimal water, fuel is free and abundant, their efficiencies continue to increase, require minimal operating and maintenance, and are technology agile, can be incrementally replaced when/if new better energy technologies become available.
Although utility scale solar systems can track the sun and generate about 20% more electricity per solar module, residential fixed mount solar with energy storage have been subsidized by other state utilities who use that capacity to satisfy peak demand when electricity is more expensive, providing benefit to all ratepayers.
Federal funds are available to fund the cost of new technology and to offset the costs of “stranded” conventional generation assets that the ACC charges to ratepayers, not utility shareholders that benefit from those suboptimal decisions.
Arizona has sufficient sunshine to generate 80% or more of its electricity requirements, and to provide renewable energy to other states, creating an export economy.
Per their 2023 SEC 10K report TEP generates 87% its electricity using fossil fuels, only 13% from solar and wind (Imported from New Mexico Wind Farm owned by TEP/Fortis).
The ACC needs to change its current rate/compensation structure to have utilities be responsible for ALL cost increases, direct and indirect, to encourage utilities to develop and deploy new technology and practices that reduce costs and share rate/surcharge reductions, i.e., reduce the rate by 80% of the cost reduction, allow utilities to retain 20% for 5-years, or similar.
Three of five ACC Commissioner positions are up for vote this November. Make certain that you vote and elect people that will work for you to provide affordable and reliable electricity services. Consider Polacheck, Aguilar and Hall.
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
Terry Finefrock has been a resident of Tucson area since 1956, is a retired Corporate Director, established the first 1 megawatt utility scale solar system in Southern AZ (2010) and has frequently provided testimony/comment to the ACC.
