The Green New Scam got its start in Arizona two decades ago when a 5-0 Republican Commission (including then Republican Kris Mayes) adopted the Renewable Energy Standard and Tarriff Rules, or the REST Rules. Among other things, most significantly it ushered in the first “renewable” mandates in our state, forcing utilities to obtain at least 15% of their power from “renewables.” Ratepayers have been paying the costs (over $2 billion) ever since.
The REST Rules had a target date: 2025. Well, it’s now 2025, and the utilities have not only met that mandate, but they have also voluntarily exceeded it. Now our current 5-0 Republican Commission has started the process of repealing them.
Repealing the REST Rules is important, but the targets have already been met, and the price has already been paid. Substantively, the repeal won’t really affect ratepayers all that much. Why? Because mandate or no mandate, our utilities are completely committed to going “Net Zero” by 2050, and so far, they’ve been allowed to do it.
Just look at what solar advocates tell the mainstream media: “[The Corporation Commission] are acknowledging integrated resource plans of the utilities that call for building a lot of renewables. They are not blocking the line [siting] approvals for certificates of environmental compatibility for renewables projects. They’re not disallowing the capital costs for these projects in rate cases.” In other words, they are approving Integrated Resource Plans littered with “renewables” that will cost tens of billions, will result in the closure of all Arizona’s coal generation in the next decade, and build barely enough natural gas to cover those closures. They are not blocking Green New Scam subsidized projects. And they are allowing the utilities to recover the costs of expensive solar and wind from ratepayers. That’s not just our assessment – that’s the solar lobby’s too.
The real cause of rising electricity costs and more double-digit rate hikes is not a 15% mandate; it’s the self-imposed “Net Zero” commitment. If a 15% renewable mandate has already cost ratepayers nearly $3 billion over the last 20 years, how much more will going 100%? The Commission knows it’s at least $6 billion, because that is what their independent cost analysis told them it would cost just a few years ago. In reality, the number is far higher – $42.7 billion just for APS customers. If the high cost alone wasn’t bad enough, Net Zero also means California (or Spain, or Germany, or Hawaii) style blackouts.
Over the last 5 years, these dangerous climate commitments have shaped the utilities’ Integrated Resource Plans, which in turn have shaped their rigged “All Source” Request for Proposals, finally leading to double digit rate hike requests so that ratepayers can foot the
bill. In fact, the result of the most recent RFP process for APS resulted in 93% of new generation coming from solar, wind, and battery storage. Only 7% is new natural gas capacity. And when you look at the most recent Resource Plans the four largest utilities in the state (APS, SRP, TEP, and UNS), in the next 15 years we will get a measly net increase of 751 MW of dispatchable power compared to 23,364 MW from “renewables.” That’s 31 times more “renewables” than reliable and dispatchable power, while energy demand is expected to explode. That is an energy crisis.
Though the Arizona Corporation Commission should repeal the REST Rules, we will still face major energy shortfalls unless those rules are replaced with necessary and overdue reforms. Reforms like prohibiting utilities from having climate commitments at all, ensuring Resource Planning prioritizes affordability and reliability and not carbon emission reductions, and that utilities have truly competitive All Source Request for Proposals to get the lowest cost, most reliable energy, not Green New Scam subsidized projects.
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has filed public comments to the Arizona Corporation Commission in the docket for the REST Rule repeal in support of these reforms. The Commission is accepting public comment until November 15th.
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