Amy Dominguez, Amy.Dominguez@sierraclub.org
Arizona – Today President Biden and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) has been selected as a finalist to receive funding through USDA’s $9.7 billion Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. Today’s announcement identified 16 large rural electric utilities that are in line to collectively receive $7.3 billion in grants and loans for investments in renewable energy, storage, transmission, and emissions reductions.
This $9.7 billion New ERA program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act, represents the largest investment in rural electric investments since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.
AEPCO’s plan (described here) includes 730 megawatts of solar, 2,910-megawatt hours of battery energy storage, and 70 megawatts of wind throughout Arizona and the Southwest. These investments will harness Arizona’s rich solar potential and store excess solar energy for deployment during peak demand. AEPCO’s sizable expected investments in energy storage will help stabilize the energy grid, strengthen Arizona’s energy independence, and reduce AEPCO’s reliance on fossil fuels. AEPCO estimates that the investments will reduce emissions by more than 1 million tons in carbon dioxide emissions annually, or more than 70%.
In addition to the New ERA award, AEPCO member Sierra Southwest Cooperative was recently selected to receive $55.2 million to install 35 megawatts of four-hour battery energy storage. Together, these projects have the potential to position AEPCO as a national leader in solar and storage technology, and substantially reduce climate pollution.
The repercussions of climate change in Arizona are difficult to ignore. Just last year, Phoenix endured 31 straight days of temperatures at 110 degrees or hotter, contributing to a record breaking 645 heat related deaths in 2023, and this year is on track to set more extreme-heat related records. Larger and more intense wildfires and ongoing drought are also fueled by climate change and disproportionately affect many rural communities. But despite these harmful impacts, many utilities have continued burning deadly fossil fuels. Funding made available by the New ERA program empowers electric cooperatives across rural America to facilitate a clean energy transition, improving affordability and resilience, and lowering costs for their members while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to our warming planet.
Arizonans want to see clean energy prioritized, consistently polling in support of clean air protections and climate action, with most categorizing both issues to be urgent, according to the American Lung Association.
“Arizona sits in the bullseye of climate change, and funding from the new ERA program helps ensure an affordable, reliable, clean energy future, especially in rural areas,” said Sandy Bahr, Chapter Director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “Dollars from the New ERA program will empower communities to ramp up renewable energy implementation, facilitating a clean energy transition that lowers costs and reduces dependence on volatile fossil fuels that accelerate climate change and harm our communities.”
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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.