ACC Pushes More Dirty Fossil Fuels at Expense of Consumers, Air, Water, and Climate

Phoenix, AZ – At its October 8 open meeting, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC)  doubled down on fossil fuels, voting to approve two new methane gas plants: Arizona Public Service Company’s (APS) Redhawk gas plant expansion project in western Maricopa County and Seguro Energy Partners’ Bella Energy Facility gas plant in Pinal County, near Casa Grande. The ACC’s approval of Certificates of Environmental Compatibility (CECs) for these projects demonstrates a dangerous trend that continues reliance on polluting fossil gas at the expense of consumers and the climate. 

The Redhawk expansion will construct eight new methane gas-fired generators totaling 397 megawatts (MW) at an APS plant in Maricopa County, at a cost of $443 million. This environmentally damaging project will increase air pollution that will harm public health, contributing to respiratory diseases that will result in increased healthcare costs of between $7.6 and $13.6 million per year for Arizona residents. It will also strain scarce water resources, pumping up to 300 acre-feet of groundwater per year. The project will lock in new gas for decades, and APS ratepayers will be forced to pay for the project’s high costs. 

The Bella Energy Facility will construct ten new methane gas-fired generators totaling 480 MW in Pinal County. Air pollution and noise from this project will have severe impacts on residents in a nearby residential neighborhood, who overwhelmingly oppose the project, and residents expressed concerns that the project’s water usage would impact their wells. The Commission’s Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee had included conditions to help protect residents, including a limit on the project’s groundwater use and a requirement that the developer provide over $4 million to reduce harmful impacts. However, the Commission voted on Tuesday to eliminate this funding and delete the limits on groundwater use, dismissing the concerns of residents and incorrectly claiming it is “not the Commission’s job” to limit environmental impacts. These residents will be forced to suffer the impacts of a project that may not even be needed: so far no utilities have signed contracts to buy power from the Bella project. 

The Commission’s decisions to approve both gas plants ignored and dismissed the concerns raised by numerous public commenters who called on the Commission to deny the projects. These gas-fired power plants will significantly harm surrounding communities, worsening air quality in areas that already experience unhealthy air. Both projects will significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to the climate crisis, and will put further strain on scarce water resources. Neither APS nor Seguro demonstrated the need for these gas plants. Much cheaper, cleaner renewable alternatives like solar and wind power are available, which would be better for the environment and for Arizona ratepayers.  

“Expanding and building new uneconomical gas plants that deplete groundwater, pollute our air, harm our health and our climate, and endanger our communities is not only unsustainable but reckless,” said Sandy Bahr, Chapter Director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “By approving the siting of these projects, the ACC has unfortunately co-signed on to the dirty dealings of fossil gas despite far cleaner, more affordable alternatives. They should be looking out for ratepayers and the health of our communities, not helping to line the pockets of utilities and developers.”

###