Amy Dominguez, amy.dominguez@sierraclub.org
Phoenix, Ariz. -- On Thursday evening, Sierra Club delivered a letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) signed by local businesses and community leaders demanding energy affordability and utility accountability after a year of skyrocketing costs that have strained families across the state.
The letter urges the ACC to reject policies that would increase energy costs, like doubling down on fossil fuels, and instead focus on affordable, responsible clean energy. It comes after the ACC has gutted clean energy policies that have brought jobs and investment to Arizona, enabled and encouraged utilities to abandon renewable energy goals, and allowed utilities to implement formula rates, which could mean annual rate hikes with less regulatory oversight.
The Commission has also approved expensive new methane gas plants and gas plant expansions, locking ratepayers into decades of paying fuel costs for facilities that deplete groundwater, pollute air, harm health, and worsen the climate.
“The Commission needs to recognize that lack of energy affordability is a real economic burden carried by small businesses, workers, and families,” said Sierra Club Senior Organizer Ylenia Aguilar. “During a time when so many are already stretched thin trying to make ends meet, the weight of rising energy costs only deepens that strain. The ACC has a responsibility to prioritize the people they serve first, not approve decisions that lock customers into higher bills for decades to come. True leadership means holding utilities accountable, and it’s something we have yet to see from the ACC.”
"Energy affordability isn't just a utility issue, it's an economic justice issue,” said Sam Gomez, Executive Director of El Sagrado Galeria. “At El Sagrado Galeria, every dollar that goes to an inflated APS bill is a dollar that doesn't go back into our community. We're calling on the ACC to protect small businesses and reject this rate hike."
###
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.