Thomas Young, Sierra Club, thomas.young@sierraclub.org
Phoenix, AZ — This evening, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a final decision in the Arizona Public Service (APS) rate case, which has been pending since late 2019.
In a landmark decision, the Commission disallowed $215.5 million of APS’s requested costs for “selective catalytic reduction” pollution controls at its Four Corners coal-burning power plant. Despite evidence in APS’s own modeling indicating that continuing to operate Four Corners was a losing bet for ratepayers, the utility sunk hundreds of millions into this aging, dirty, and expensive coal plant.
The Commission’s decision also requires APS to take a serious look at the future of the Four Corners plant. Analysis from Sierra Club and other parties showed that accelerating the retirement of the coal plant from 2031 to 2023 could save APS ratepayers upwards of $1 billion.
While the order also starts the process of funding just and equitable transition in coal-impacted communities, it falls far short of what is required to support the clean energy transition and to spur economic development needed by the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. The order includes less than 10% of the funds proposed in the APS agreement with the Navajo Nation.
“This decision protects ratepayers from more than $215 million that APS wasted on the Four Corners coal plant — that APS should have instead invested in lower cost clean energy,” says Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter Director. “Yet, the Arizona Corporation Commission is — once again — failing the communities that are hurt most by coal pollution and lack of support for economic transition by falling far short of what APS proposed or the judge recommended for these communities.”
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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.