A bipartisan message?

Energy experts agree that energy-efficiency is the lowest cost energy that exists.

A good way to take pressure off the Grid.

For solar owners, leasing your own home battery might be a good way to save money and keep things going in case of an outage. This option exists in 25 states, including Arizona. Palmetto

Visit utilitiesr3.org to learn about the many different renewable energy technologies that are happening today.

The ACC just repealed the Energy Efficiency standards. Everybody, almost everybody on the planet who knew about it, opposed this action, with good reason, and they did it anyway. There is no sense talking about all the advantages of energy efficiency; they were going to repeal them no matter what was said.
Here is what I said to them:

I do not support the repeal of the EE standards. The goal has been met, so now is the time to move forward, build upon their success, and increase them. The cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use. The EE rules save money for all customers; one notable example is stopping the need to build costly new infrastructure. I liken it to driving down the road with a hole in your gas tank. It is cheaper to fix the hole in the gas tank, than to keep adding new gas tanks. Power plants are expensive.
Multiple studies have shown that energy efficiency saves money. The study done by Elliot D. Pollack & Company, which was requested by the ACC, concluded that the EE rules had provided $1.7 billion in net economic benefits to Arizona ratepayers and resulted in over 2,000 MWs in cumulative peak demand savings. {quote from P. 1} A report from the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) concluded that over a 10-year period, Arizonans had saved $17.3 billion, or $6200 per household.
Commissioner Marquez-Peterson said that the EE rules have met their goal, so they are out of date. Commissioner Lopez said that they have served their purpose and now is the time for them to go away. Yes, they have been met, so now is the time to update them and increase them. Commissioner Thompson said, “You can’t use a cup to fill a generation gap that demands buckets”. 2000 MWs is not a cup. A 16% reduction in household energy use, an estimate by the Arizona PIRG Education Fund, is substantial. Commissioner Walden talked about a “cost shift”; however, everyone benefits, not just those receiving the services.
Commissioners Thompson, Meyers, and Walden have all stated opposition to “mandates”. This comes from a conservative ideology. Do not let this ideology misguide you when coming to a decision that affects ratepayers.
Thank you.

Feel free to post your beliefs about this action by the ACC.

The utilities know that solar eats into their profits. It may be that renewable energy is an existential threat to the utilities.

Utilities

It's exciting! Technology is advancing so quickly. Our electricity rates are going up, but the world of energy is moving forward. Everything will be electric, and that electricity will be sourced from renewables. Here in Arizona, that will be solar + some wind. If our regulators would get past whatever causes them to turn to outdated technologies, fossil fuels, to be blunt about it, and look to where the future of energy is headed, and make decisions accordingly, we could come out of this energy crisis in a much better place than where we started out from. The carbon battery that this article is talking about is happening in Arizona also, at SRP. The advancements in long-duration energy storage are the key to unlocking solar and wind power and bringing out their full potential.

Yes, nuclear is having its day, but it isn't the best option. They may speed up the timeline by 3 years with a big loan, but that still leaves 10 years or longer to build these reactors. We don't have 10 years to wait. And it is so much more expensive than other options. The DOE is making a mistake with this $17.5 loan.

There is a big hype going on in this country, as well as around the world, about a revival of nuclear energy. It's not going to happen, at least not in the short term and in this country. Nuclear is not only by far the most expensive form of energy, but it also takes a very long time to come online. President Trump's administration just put forward $17.5B toward the creation of 10 nuclear facilities, but that is a small fraction of the capital that would be required to build those reactors. Our Governor just vetoed a bill that would have prevented most counties in Arizona from stopping the construction of nuclear plants in their backyard. Leave a comment if you believe that this was a good idea.

Hobbs vetoes bill

Conservatives can be clean energy advocates also. Read this article and visit utilitiesr3.org to learn more about clean energy in Arizona and the world.

Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship

The ACC

Do you believe that the ACC is working for us, or influenced by other pressures? Leave a comment.

One of the big concerns about solar is that it takes up too much farmland. It does not, as shown by the following map. Agrivoltaics is becoming a more acceptable practice as farmers realize that they can boost their income and produce energy for their community, as well as improve their crop yield, graze their sheep, or provide habitat for pollinators.Map

Texas agrivoltaics

Unfortunately, our utilities don't have our best interests in mind. They make more profits when they spend more (see home page of utilitiesr3.org), so sometimes they will spend in ways when there are cheaper alternatives. See how the establishment of microgrids and VPP's are a cheaper alternative to buring electric lines in wildfire country.

Microgrids

SRP is looking at an innovative way to store energy, which will give them the ability to add more renewable energy to the grid.

Energy dome

It's mind-boggling to think that now, including home-owners' EV chargers, the number of EV chargers might outnumber the number of gas nozzels in the U.S. EV charging network

Free electricity

Our Corporation Commission (ACC) has approved a $5.3 billion gas pipeline to run from the Permian Basin into Arizona, in order to fuel new gas-fired generating plants for electricity production. There are cheaper and more reliable options available. We all need to get informed, and hold them accountable. There are 2 Commissioners up for re-election this November, Chairman Nick Meyers ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]): 602-781-6282), and Commissioner Kevin Thompson, ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]): 480-901-8841). Visit utilitiesr3.org to learn more about the ACC, and the many different energy technologies that are being developed now. And read the article below how Colorado's Utility Commission stopped a proposal to add more gas to their energy mix.

Colorado regulators

I've probably said it before, but I'll say it again. The grid will look totally different in 7 or 8 years from now. The technologies for renewables are advancing so rapidly that it is hard to keep up with them. One movement is toward VPPs, or virtual power plants, where the energy from individual entities, i.e., rooftop solar, EVs, home batteries, etc., is aggregated and made into a power plant, bypassing the need to build expensive gas-fired power plants.

VPPs

Balcony solar is beginning to take off around the country, this is state #6. This will be a game-changer, as more people adopt the technology and learn to like solar. Our state legislature failed to pass a bill this year, but it will next year. Plug-in solar.

VPPs will be a big part of our energy future; they are growing around the country today. But why is there such a delay in building them? The utilities don't want them because they take away their business, so they don't implement obvious solutions.

It might be that 2026 is the year that V2H (vehicle to home) technology gets a foothold in America. Being able to not only charge your car but to reverse that and be able to charge your home with your car would be a game-changer. People would become more energy independent, and maybe even able to lower their energy bill.

BESS makes solar possible.

Buy a used EV

Solar + storage is making the grid more reliable.