Senate Engrossed House Bill corporation commission; reliable energy State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025 HOUSE CONCURRENT MEMORIAL 2014 A CONCURRENT MEMORIAL Urging the Arizona corporation commission to ensure reliable and affordable utility services. (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Senate Engrossed House Bill corporation commission; reliable energy
State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025
HOUSE CONCURRENT MEMORIAL 2014
Senate Engrossed House Bill
corporation commission; reliable energy
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
2025
HOUSE CONCURRENT MEMORIAL 2014
A CONCURRENT MEMORIAL
Urging the Arizona corporation commission to ensure reliable and affordable utility services.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
To the Commissioners of the Arizona Corporation Commission: Your memorialist respectfully represents: Whereas, in 2006 the Arizona Corporation Commission approved the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff Rules mandating that regulated electric utilities generate 15% of their energy from renewable resources by 2025, costing ratepayers $2.3 billion; and Whereas, in 2020, the Arizona Corporation Commission opened a docket to consider mandating utilities to obtain 100% renewable energy by 2050; and Whereas, an independent third-party analysis found that the proposed mandates would cost ratepayers $6 billion by 2050, resulting in the mandate being rejected by a three-to-two vote; and Whereas, following the rejection of renewable mandates by the Commission, Arizona's utilities announced voluntary commitments to go "Net Zero" by 2050; and Whereas, Net Zero requires retiring all coal generation by 2031 and relying almost exclusively on solar, wind and battery storage; and Whereas, solar and wind are intermittent and therefore unreliable sources of energy generation that cannot be dispatched at all times to respond to demand; and Whereas, countries that have committed to going Net Zero have experienced increased costs and reduced reliability, including in Germany where the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour is more than 42 cents compared to an average cost of 15 cents per kilowatt hour in Arizona, representing an annual cost of $3,300 more for the average customer; and Whereas, utilities have to "overbuild" the grid when replacing reliable sources of energy with unreliable sources of energy to account for the intermittent nature of those sources, increasing the cost of electricity and making the grid less reliable and secure; and Whereas, the retirement of reliable generation sources would plunge Arizona into energy poverty, putting reliability at risk and making electricity unaffordable for Arizonans; and Whereas, Arizona citizens, including families, schools, hospitals, small businesses, farms and industries, depend on reliable and affordable electric utility service for everything they do, from operating lifesaving medical equipment to operating lifesaving building temperature and humidity control systems; and Whereas, on January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump declared a national energy emergency, finding that the policies of the previous administration have driven our nation into a national emergency where a precariously inadequate and intermittent energy supply and an increasingly unreliable grid require swift and decisive action; and Whereas, consistent with the national energy emergency, on April 8, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued executive orders to reinvigorate America's beautiful clean coal industry, strengthen the reliability and security of the United States electric grid and secure America's energy dominance by removing unlawful and burdensome state-level impediments to domestic energy production; and Whereas, these executive orders recognize the importance of coal to fuel growing energy demand and ensure a secure, reliable and affordable grid and aim to keep vital power plants across the country online; and Whereas, Arizona utilities have already shuttered 3,453 megawatts of coal generating capacity since 2013, including three out of five generating units at the Four Corners Power Plant, two out of four units at the Cholla Generating Station and three out of three units at the Navajo Generating Station; and Whereas, Arizona utilities plan to shut down 426 megawatts of coal generating capacity from the remaining two units at the Cholla Generating Station in 2025; and Whereas, Arizona utilities plan to retire the remaining 3,520 megawatts of coal generating capacity by 2032, including the Springerville Generating Station, the remaining units at the Four Corners Power Plant and the Coronado Generating Station; and Whereas, reactivating Arizonas shuttered coal plants and bolstering our remaining coal fleet would unleash a reliable, diversified energy supply to support local industries, creating good paying jobs and reducing our reliance on foreign energy sources in the process. Wherefore, your memorialist, the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays: 1. That the Arizona Corporation Commission ensure the Arizona grid is powered by affordable and reliable energy generation. 2. That the Arizona Corporation Commission prevent regulated utilities from going "Net Zero" and shutting down this state's critical dispatchable sources of energy generation and replacing them with costly, intermittent and unreliable solar, wind and battery storage. 3. That the Arizona Corporation Commission immediately reconsider previous decisions approving the closure of existing coal plants, including the planned retirement of the Cholla Generating Station in 2025 and the Four Corners Power Plant in 2031. 4. That the Arizona Corporation Commission direct regulated utilities to revise, update and resubmit their most recent integrated resource plans to provide portfolios that prioritize reliable sources of baseload and dispatchable power that are the most cost effective for ratepayers to meet future demand. 5. That the Arizona Corporation Commission support President Trump's agenda to unleash American energy with the use of reliable sources of power generation including coal. 6. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Memorial to the Chairperson and each Commissioner of the Arizona Corporation Commission.
To the Commissioners of the Arizona Corporation Commission:
Your memorialist respectfully represents:
Whereas, in 2006 the Arizona Corporation Commission approved the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff Rules mandating that regulated electric utilities generate 15% of their energy from renewable resources by 2025, costing ratepayers $2.3 billion; and
Whereas, in 2020, the Arizona Corporation Commission opened a docket to consider mandating utilities to obtain 100% renewable energy by 2050; and
Whereas, an independent third-party analysis found that the proposed mandates would cost ratepayers $6 billion by 2050, resulting in the mandate being rejected by a three-to-two vote; and
Whereas, following the rejection of renewable mandates by the Commission, Arizona's utilities announced voluntary commitments to go "Net Zero" by 2050; and
Whereas, Net Zero requires retiring all coal generation by 2031 and relying almost exclusively on solar, wind and battery storage; and
Whereas, solar and wind are intermittent and therefore unreliable sources of energy generation that cannot be dispatched at all times to respond to demand; and
Whereas, countries that have committed to going Net Zero have experienced increased costs and reduced reliability, including in Germany where the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour is more than 42 cents compared to an average cost of 15 cents per kilowatt hour in Arizona, representing an annual cost of $3,300 more for the average customer; and
Whereas, utilities have to "overbuild" the grid when replacing reliable sources of energy with unreliable sources of energy to account for the intermittent nature of those sources, increasing the cost of electricity and making the grid less reliable and secure; and
Whereas, the retirement of reliable generation sources would plunge Arizona into energy poverty, putting reliability at risk and making electricity unaffordable for Arizonans; and
Whereas, Arizona citizens, including families, schools, hospitals, small businesses, farms and industries, depend on reliable and affordable electric utility service for everything they do, from operating lifesaving medical equipment to operating lifesaving building temperature and humidity control systems; and
Whereas, on January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump declared a national energy emergency, finding that the policies of the previous administration have driven our nation into a national emergency where a precariously inadequate and intermittent energy supply and an increasingly unreliable grid require swift and decisive action; and
Whereas, consistent with the national energy emergency, on April 8, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued executive orders to reinvigorate America's beautiful clean coal industry, strengthen the reliability and security of the United States electric grid and secure America's energy dominance by removing unlawful and burdensome state-level impediments to domestic energy production; and
Whereas, these executive orders recognize the importance of coal to fuel growing energy demand and ensure a secure, reliable and affordable grid and aim to keep vital power plants across the country online; and
Whereas, Arizona utilities have already shuttered 3,453 megawatts of coal generating capacity since 2013, including three out of five generating units at the Four Corners Power Plant, two out of four units at the Cholla Generating Station and three out of three units at the Navajo Generating Station; and
Whereas, Arizona utilities plan to shut down 426 megawatts of coal generating capacity from the remaining two units at the Cholla Generating Station in 2025; and
Whereas, Arizona utilities plan to retire the remaining 3,520 megawatts of coal generating capacity by 2032, including the Springerville Generating Station, the remaining units at the Four Corners Power Plant and the Coronado Generating Station; and
Whereas, reactivating Arizonas shuttered coal plants and bolstering our remaining coal fleet would unleash a reliable, diversified energy supply to support local industries, creating good paying jobs and reducing our reliance on foreign energy sources in the process.
Wherefore, your memorialist, the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays:
1. That the Arizona Corporation Commission ensure the Arizona grid is powered by affordable and reliable energy generation.
2. That the Arizona Corporation Commission prevent regulated utilities from going "Net Zero" and shutting down this state's critical dispatchable sources of energy generation and replacing them with costly, intermittent and unreliable solar, wind and battery storage.
3. That the Arizona Corporation Commission immediately reconsider previous decisions approving the closure of existing coal plants, including the planned retirement of the Cholla Generating Station in 2025 and the Four Corners Power Plant in 2031.
4. That the Arizona Corporation Commission direct regulated utilities to revise, update and resubmit their most recent integrated resource plans to provide portfolios that prioritize reliable sources of baseload and dispatchable power that are the most cost effective for ratepayers to meet future demand.
5. That the Arizona Corporation Commission support President Trump's agenda to unleash American energy with the use of reliable sources of power generation including coal.
6. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Memorial to the Chairperson and each Commissioner of the Arizona Corporation Commission.