Vianey Olivarria
| Arizona Spark, Opinion

Esperanza Zavala fits all the criteria for a utility customer wronged by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). She is a Latina customer of Arizona Public Services (APS) in hot downtown Phoenix, has solar panels on her roof that contribute to the grid, and knows nothing about the ACC.

According to a recent survey by Embold Research, the majority of Latino voters in Arizona don’t know what the Arizona Corporation Commission is or what it does. And while it may sound like a boring regulatory board, its five elected members make decisions that directly affect our daily lives — from how much we pay for our electricity to how much polluted air we breathe and what percentage of our energy comes from renewable sources.

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These are issues that directly affect households, and more than any other state agency, the ACC controls how quickly—or slowly—our state transitions to cleaner, healthier, more affordable energy. That’s why our team at Chispa Arizona is launching a $200,000 campaign to make the ACC a household name. We want people like Esperanza to know that the ACC authorized APS to raise her electric bill and charge her more for being connected to the grid with her solar panels. We want people like her to know that the ACC is considering allowing utility companies to reimburse them less for the electricity they contribute to the system. We want people to know what the ACC does and how its decisions impact all of us, especially our Latino communities.

Nine in 10 Latino voters agree that the cost of electricity is a serious problem. Arizonans spend an average of $235 a month to cool our homes during the summer, making our electric bills the highest in the country. The ACC is responsible for regulating the utilities that send you your monthly bill, and its commissioners are accountable to Arizona voters. But because many of us haven’t heard of them, the utilities have the loudest voices at the decision-making table.

When APS proposed an 8% rate increase in February, the ACC approved it 4-1. Utilities say rate increases are necessary to fund critical infrastructure investments. This would be plausible if APS’s parent company had not reported net income of $501.6 million in 2023 and a return to investors of $4.41 per share. At a time when families in Phoenix need a six-figure income to afford a home and many are choosing between buying food and paying their electric bills, the ACC should have been eager to reject this rate increase proposal, not approve it.

Arizona sets alarming new heat records year after year. The state just experienced its hottest June in the history of the National Weather Service, and Arizonans have already experienced more than 23 days with temperatures exceeding 110 degrees. With these extreme temperatures come even higher bills and an increased risk of heat-related illnesses, which can be fatal if left untreated. I still remember the day that 72-year-old Stephanie Pullman died of heat stroke in her home. The temperature was 107 degrees the day APS shut off her power because her bill was $51 past due. It took this tragedy for ACC to ban power shutoffs due to nonpayment.

Public health experts warn that a grid failure during a heat wave could send half of Phoenix to the hospital with heat-related illnesses. Although Arizona has one of the most reliable energy grids in the country, the state is also facing unprecedented population growth, which could put more strain on our energy supply during times of high demand. Contrary to what the ACC would like you to believe, fossil fuels are not as reliable as renewable energy sources. Forced failure rates at coal and gas plants are much higher than those of solar, wind, and hydroelectric, making conventional power generation less reliable overall.

The economic, environmental and health consequences of burning fossil fuels are most acute for Arizona’s communities of color. Studies show high rates of asthma among Black and Latino children that are highly correlated with exposure to polluted air. Last year, two young Latino farmworkers died from heat-related illnesses, and nearly half of the people who have died from heat-related causes this year are Black, Latino or Native American.

The ACC has refused to embrace the one change that could make a difference for Arizonans: clean energy. Despite studies showing that clean energy will continue to be cheaper than fossil fuels, the ACC has made no progress toward clean energy since 2006; in fact, it has taken Arizona backward. Earlier this year, commissioners took action to eliminate 2006 clean energy goals. And more recently, they voted to exempt a large natural gas plant from environmental review, paving the way for more fossil fuel plants and overturning 50 years of precedent.

Nearly three-quarters of Latino voters and a majority of Arizonans support clean energy. Right now, Arizona gets about 16% of its energy from renewable sources, but with the second-highest clean energy potential of any state, Arizona could produce 320 times the energy its residents consume in a year, according to Environment America. APS has pledged to be 100% carbon-free by 2050, but that’s not ambitious enough. The White House has set a goal of achieving a 100% carbon-free power grid by 2035, and the ACC should push utilities to move at least that fast.

We deserve more from the ACC. A reliable energy grid doesn’t have to come at a high price, and it shouldn’t come at the cost of our health either. The ACC is accountable to us. Holding them accountable starts with every voter knowing what they’re doing, and we’ll make sure the Latino community knows them well.

Vianey Olivarria is Executive Director at Chispa Arizona.

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