Amy Dominguez, amy.dominguez@sierraclub.org
Phoenix, AZ – In a new version of Sierra Club’s groundbreaking report, the Dirty Truth About Climate Pledges, Arizona utilities Salt River Project (SRP), Tucson Electric Power (TEP), and Arizona Public Service (APS) earned poor grades for the way the utilities have delayed the transition to clean energy from coal and gas that poisons the air, threatening the public health of communities, and exacerbating the climate crisis.
The report assigned utilities a score based on their plans in three areas: 1) commitments to retire coal by 2030, 2) plans to build gas through 2030, 3) plans to build or purchase clean energy by 2030. The score is on a scale of 0 to 100, with a utility earning points by committing to retire coal and adding clean energy and losing points by adding new gas.
Despite climate and decarbonization commitments, all of Arizona’s utilities plan to burn coal beyond 2030, propping up fossil gas, a dirty, expensive, volatile fuel source that burdens taxpayers and impacts frontline communities with increased cases of asthma and heart disease.
Statement from Sandy Bahr, Director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter:
“Arizonans widely support transitioning to clean energy, yet our utilities continue to hold on to coal and invest in fossil gas that exacerbates the extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and floods that we’re witnessing firsthand. The health of our communities and our planet depend on a clean energy transformation to fight climate change, and utilities have a responsibility to enact that. A clean energy future is long overdue.”
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About the Sierra Club
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.