Renewable Energy in Arizona

Commissioner Andy Tobin of the Arizona Corporation Commission released a statement proposing a series of reforms relating to the continued promotion of renewable energy in the state.

In urging the full commission to consider his plan, the commissioner said that he is striving to have Arizona’s economy run on 80% clean energy by 2050. In support of that ambitious goal, Commissioner Tobin pointed out that Arizona’s electric utilities are already transitioning away from coal and are expanding their use of renewables, energy efficiency, and storage.

On that last topic, the commissioner averred that another major target in his plan calls for energy storage to expand to 3,000 megawatts by 2030. According to the commissioner, that is the largest such goal in the United States and would allow the state to not only maximize the renewable resources already deployed, but also help develop the next wave of innovation as the energy market evolves nationwide. An additional suggestion put forth by the commissioner is to establish a forest biomass energy requirement for Arizona’s regulated utilities, which he claimed would help expand the use of renewables, improve watersheds, and protect the state’s forest land.

He asserted that to limit the chance of catastrophic forest fires in the long term, Arizona must clear about one million acres over the next 20 years, or about 50,000 acres each year. Finally, the commissioner asked that the state’s utilities incorporate greater use of electric vehicle infrastructure into their resource planning and to concomitantly develop and propose ways to make homes, businesses, communities, and highways ready for the coming expansion of electric vehicles. (Docket No. E-00000Q- 16-0289)