The Arizona Corporation Commission voted 3 to 2 to advance a clean energy rules package that would require regulated utilities to get power from 100% carbon-free sources by 2070, on Wednesday.
Arizona utility regulators advance new energy mandates plan
BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press
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PHOENIX (AP) A 3-2 vote by the Arizona Corporation Commission moves the state toward boosting the renewable energy requirement for state-regulated utilities but under a slower timetable than a previous proposal that was rejected by the panel.
The commission s vote Wednesday restarts a rulemaking process to require that most of the state s electrical providers get 100% of their power from carbon-free sources to limit carbon emissions and address climate change.
But the new proposal is based on a bipartisan compromise that would set a 2070 deadline 20 years later than the 2050 target in the previous proposal rejected by the commission on May 5.
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A starry night over the Mitten Buttes in Monument Valley, Arizona. Credit: Xavi Talleda/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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Six months ago, Arizona showed the country how Democrats and Republicans could work together to come up with a 100 percent carbon-free electricity plan.
Last week, the state showed how such a proposal, even when it seems like a done deal, can fall apart.
The turnabout was heartbreaking for Bob Burns, a Republican who was a leading promoter of the idea that clean energy should not be a partisan issue. He had shepherded the energy plan to its apparent passage last fall in his final months as chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission, capping a decades-long career in elected office. But he wasn’t that surprised.
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and last updated 2021-05-07 00:40:59-04
Clean energy rules that would have required Arizona electric utilities to use 100% carbon-free power sources by the year 2050 failed in a 3-2 vote, Wednesday night.
The Arizona Corporation Commissioner, a five-member panel that regulates investor-owned utilities, came to the decision after significant amendments to the rules package were passed by the three Republican members.
One amendment, introduced by Commissioner Justin Olson, who has consistently opposed the rules, required that they be goals rather than required standards.