Phoenix: Az Corporation Commission Renewable Power Mandate Upheld

Judge OKs 15% renewable-power mandate

By Howard Fischer

CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX — A judge has rejected a legal challenge to the authority of the Arizona Corporation Commission to require that utilities generate 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025.

In an eight-page opinion, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Heilman rejected arguments by the Goldwater Institute that com­mission members were over­stepping their authority.

Clint Bolick, director of the Center for Constitutional Lit­igation at the institute, argued that the regulators can set rates but cannot get into how and where companies gener­ate their power.

Heilman disagreed, and also found nothing wrong with al­lowing the utilities to pass on to their customers the higher costs of renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal.

The ruling is a significant victory for the commissioners, who had made a major goal of weaning companies from car­bon- based power sources. They already are looking at ex­panding the mandate beyond that 15 percent.

But it is not likely the last word: The Goldwater Institute is expected to appeal.

Kris Mayes, who chairs the Corporation Commission, said the mandate is not only legal but also financially de­fensible.

She said pushing al­ternate sources moves the state away from its reliance on fossil fuels for power, fuels whose costs could increase with the enactment of new state or federal regulations to cut greenhouse- gas emis­sions.

Solar, wind and geothermal energy sources tend to be more expensive than coal­generated electricity, which forms the base of what is used in Arizona. And they are more costly than power from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generat­ing Station west of Phoenix.

In recognition of that, the rules allow utilities to levy a surcharge on customers.

Tucson Electric Power, for example, can add up to $2 a month onto what residential customers pay.

The figure is up to $39 a month for small- and medi­um- sized businesses and up to $500 for the largest indus­trial users.

Arizona Public Service can charge residential ratepayers an extra $1.85 a month.

Businesses can be charged an additional $68.78 a month, with that figure increasing to $206.33 for the largest cus­tomers.

Aside from the possibility of an appeal, the judge’s ruling does not end the possibility that the Legislature could try to assume some of the com­mission’s powers.