July 10, 2024
PHOENIX – Western Resource Advocates (WRA) filed a petition with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) today requesting the Commission reconsider its 4-1 decision to allow UniSource Electric to build a 200-megawatt methane gas plant expansion without obtaining a certificate of environmental compatibility.
The decision, which overturned a 9-2 decision by the state’s Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee requiring the certificate, creates a troubling new precedent for gas and electric utilities seeking to build new generation facilities and eviscerates an oversight process that has been in place in Arizona since 1971.
WRA’s petition begins the process of overturning the Commission’s troubling decision on UniSource Electric’s project, which also has serious implications for other major energy projects and community impacts in Arizona in the future.
The Arizona Corporation Commission places utility profits over the people of Arizona by exempting the UniSource gas plant, and other plants like it, from this environmental review process. The people of Arizona, its local governments, and interested stakeholders deserve a voice in the siting of large energy projects and the Commission’s decision limits the opportunities for these voices to be heard by both Arizona’s utilities and the ACC alike.
Beyond our policy concerns, WRA also believes the legal basis for the decision is insufficient. WRA’s petition cites a number of legal faults in the Commission decision. Chief among these is that the decision violated Arizona’s Constitution, as well as Arizona law, and that the decision is unsupported by well-established evidence.
The deficiencies in the Commission’s decision are numerous, insurmountable, and we believe they should render the decision invalid. The Commission must reconsider its decision on this matter and grant a reahearing for the protection of Arizona’s health and environment.