Amy Dominguez, amy.dominguez@sierraclub.org
Phoenix, AZ – Today, in an egregious move that undermines public process and transparency, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved a major expansion of Arizona Public Service Company’s (APS) gas-fired Sundance power plant without allowing any public comment. Several organizations, including Sierra Club, Chispa Arizona, Western Resource Advocates, Western Clean Energy Campaign, and Western Grid Group expressed concerns about the project and several requested to comment at the Commission’s Nov. 29 meeting, but the Commission did not allow them to speak.
APS proposes to add two new fossil gas-fired generating turbines at the Sundance plant. The expansion will add additional air pollution, exacerbating already poor air quality in the region and harming public health. The American Lung Association gives Pinal County a failing grade for its unhealthy air quality.
The decision that the ACC made today is premature at best, as APS did not provide sufficient information on the human health impacts of these new fossil gas units, did not demonstrate the need for the project, and did not analyze the availability of less environmentally harmful, economic alternatives to the project, such as solar and battery storage. This makes it impossible for the Commission to comply with its statutory mandate to balance the need for this project with minimizing the impact on the environment.
As Arizona experiences record-breaking temperatures and ratepayers are on the hook for increasing utility bills as a result of volatile gas prices, utilities like APS are irresponsibly prolonging dependence on expensive fossil fuels by expanding the Sundance power plant when a transition from fossil fuels is urgently needed. In APS’s application, the Company did not explain whether it considered renewable alternatives like lower-cost solar power and battery storage, and didn’t demonstrate that expanding reliance on fossil gas would be in the best interest of its ratepayers.
“The Commission’s prohibition of public comment on this project is a deliberate attempt to prevent community members from expressing concern over expanding a polluting power plant that will increase pollution in an area that already has poor air quality,” said Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Director, Sandy Bahr. “As the regulatory body intended to prioritize the best interests of utility ratepayers, the ACC’s outrageous action today goes directly against the community that it is meant to serve and demonstrates that it’ll instead rubber stamp what big monopoly utilities, like APS, want without even hearing any concerns or requiring adequate information to make a responsible decision.”
See Sierra Club’s written comments on the project here.
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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.