Emily Bosch emily.bosch@sierraclub.org
PHOENIX, ARIZ. - Today during Arizona Public Service’s Q2 quarterly earnings call, the utility announced it would rescind its previous clean energy commitments, eliminating its 2030 targets of 65% clean and 45% renewable energy, and abandoning its previous commitment to achieve a zero-carbon system by 2050. APS also stated that it is eliminating all previous “interim” clean energy targets it had planned to achieve before 2050.
This announcement leaves Arizona’s largest utility with no commitment to eliminate carbon emissions and only about 21% of its current energy portfolio coming from renewable energy. Today’s announcement is a reversal from years of public commitments to a clean energy transition that APS previously made in its Integrated Resource Plans and in other public statements.
Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter Director, released the following statement:
“Arizona Public Service ratepayers are already being crushed by high power bills with even more rate hikes on the horizon. This about-face on the utility’s commitments to pursue affordable, clean energy leaves Arizonans holding the bag for expensive energy that pollutes our air and water, wrecks our climate, and makes us sick.”
Nicole Horseherder, Executive Director of Tó Nizhóní Ání, released the following statement:
“This announcement shows that APS’s goal is not actually saving customers money. If it were, APS would have doubled-down on clean energy because it’s the cheapest option. Instead, the utility is as irresponsible as fossil fuel developers, selling out Arizonans’ health and our future for profit. The Arizona Corporation Commission needs to protect us when utilities try to roll back measures that were put in place to manage the state’s resources and environment to build a healthy, sustainable future.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.