Last week the Arizona Corporation Commission ended Arizona’s two decade long Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST), ending a policy that for 20 years required utilities to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources like solar and wind.
The REST rules were first adopted in 2006 and required regulated electric utilities to get 15% of their power from renewable energy by 2025 including distributed sources like rooftop solar.
Last week the Commission threw all that out the window.
The former REST standards helped drive investment in clean energy by creating incentives for utilities and customers to install solar systems and other renewable technologies.
Electric power generation remains one of the largest sources of air pollution. Burning fossil fuels releases pollutants including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide that contribute to asthma, heart disease, and premature death. Moving even a portion of the energy mix toward renewable sources reduces these emissions and improves air quality.
Renewable energy policies also matter for climate change. Heat waves are already intensifying across the Southwest, and Arizona is on the front lines of climate-related health risks. Expanding renewable energy helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to those long-term risks.
Arizona’s former REST rules weren’t aggressive compared with standards adopted in many other states. Arizona’s requirement (15% renewable power by 2025) was modest. But at least it encouraged utilities to invest in solar and other clean technologies.
Removing the REST standards won’t end renewable development in Arizona because solar is often the most cost-effective way to add generating capacity – but even so – APS seems to be consistently averse to solar compared to methane generation.
Market forces will still drive some growth in utility scale solar. But eliminating the standard it will be much less than it otherwise would have been.
Arizona voters elect the members of the Corporation Commission. The current commissioners campaigned openly on their opposition to clean-energy mandates and renewable standards. Voters knew their views.
In that sense, the decision to scrap the REST rules reflects the direction AZ voters chose when they elected the current commission.
That doesn’t make the outcome good for public health. But it explains how we got here.
