New clean-energy rules will put state on competitive footing

As business leaders representing a coalition of more than 800 large and small Arizona companies, we are heartened that the Arizona Corporation Commission voted last month to reconsider and advance a revised energy rules package.

The bipartisan vote demonstrates an impressive feat of cooperation and compromise following a decision just weeks earlier that temporarily killed the package.

The modernized rules are a crucial step in the right direction for Arizona’s clean-energy economy.

We are especially pleased to see the strong, energy-efficiency standard and a 100% carbon-free electricity standard included in the package.

While we would have liked to see a more aggressive timeline for Arizona to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity, the compromise of a strong interim target to achieve 50% clean energy by 2032 will go a long way to growing a thriving clean-energy industry.

And overall, the revised clean-energy rules will benefit Arizonans for decades to come.

That’s why more than two dozen businesses and associations — Ball Corporation, Google, Johns Manville, Microsoft, Salesforce and the Arizona Technology Council, among others — called on the commission to adopt strong clean-energy standards as a way to build a robust, resilient economy.

Effective clean-energy standards are important drivers of economic growth, and vital to Arizona’s ability to attract long-term investments, innovative companies and thousands of new jobs.

Businesses in Arizona have made bold commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and transition to renewable energy — and they know they need smart, supportive policies to meet these commitments.

With the right policies in place, Arizona will be able to compete with neighboring states for these clean-energy investments.

Policies like clean-energy standards provide the market stability and certainty businesses need to plan for the future, and as such they can serve as an incentive for businesses to relocate or expand in Arizona.

Strong clean-energy standards will also help Arizona meet federal air quality standards, which threaten business opportunities in the state and future economic development.

For these reasons, we express our continued disappointment that Commission Chair Lea Márquez Peterson has reversed her position, voting down the rules twice in one month. This is a dramatic and unexpected departure from her previous support and her previous vote in favor of stronger energy rules.

What is also very troubling regarding Márquez Peterson’s reversal is the change in her rhetoric during and since the vote to block the rules. She called the establishment of standards, as opposed to goals, a “blank check” to utilities but the facts do not back up the claim.

An independent analysis instead found the energy rules would provide $2 billion in economic benefits to Arizonans.

Further, the rules were written to include waivers that provide a backstop and additional protection for ratepayers should cost ever become an issue. The rules would also prevent automatic approvals of utility investment.

It is actually the Corporation Commission's job to closely review utility proposals and approve a return on investments that they find to be prudent. Calling standards a “blank check” is relinquishing the primary role of the ACC to serve as utility regulators.

We hope that as the commission works to finalize the energy rules in the months ahead, Márquez Peterson will join her fellow commissioners in support.

We are grateful for the leadership shown by Commissioners Sandra Kennedy, Anna Tovar and Jim O’Connor. They deserve accolades for upholding the ACC’s bipartisan tradition of supporting smart, clean-energy policies, especially during a time when it feels like there is a vast divide between the two political parties.

The bipartisan vote pushed aside politics and put Arizonans first. We urge the Corporation Commission to come together to finalize the new energy-rules package this fall.

Steven G. Zylstra is president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council and Emily Duff is manager of state policy at Ceres, which advocates for practices and regulatory actions to promote sustainability. Reach them by email at szylstra@aztechcouncil.org and duff@ ceres.org or on Twitter at @szylstra and @emilyrduff.