Amy Dominguez, amy.dominguez@sierraclub.org
PHOENIX - Today, Sierra Club released its sixth Dirty Truth Report that grades utilities across the country based on how much coal they are retiring, how much gas they are planning, and how much renewable energy they are adding, analyzing data through July 1, 2026. Arizona’s major utilities are featured in the report, which finds that while coal retirements are an important step forward, continued investments in gas keep customers, and the electric system, tied to fossil fuels. As the need for a rapid transition to clean energy grows more urgent, the report highlights that while utilities have made some progress, significant work still remains to move beyond fossil fuels toward a truly clean energy future.
Arizona Public Service (APS) earned an F in the new report after its decision to delay the retirement of the Four Corners coal-fired power plant, keeping its customers on the hook when instead it could be saving millions by retiring it. It also has the most planned gas out of all of the state’s utilities, including the Redhawk Expansion Project, which calls for the construction of eight new methane gas-fired generating turbines in Maricopa County – a county that is consistently ranked as having some of the worst air quality.
Arizona’s three major utilities have all been enabled by the ACC, the regulating body tasked with overseeing them, but over the past several years, the Commission has regularly done the bidding of utilities instead – fast-tracking projects and side-stepping established processes to prioritize utility bottom-lines at the expense of customers.
The full report is available on the Dirty Truth website.
“Despite the increasing, urgent need for transition, Arizona utilities are wasting time and dollars when they invest in and hold on to fossil gas,” said Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Director Sandy Bahr. “We can’t mistake progress on coal retirements for the finish line, especially when so much new gas is being added to the system. Arizonans are already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, including extreme heat, severe droughts, and more intense wildfires. Continued reliance on fossil fuels only makes these challenges harder to address. Retiring coal is an important step, but there is still a lot to be done to truly move our state towards a clean energy future.”
“The Dirty Truth report has once again revealed utilities’ overwhelming failure to plan a phase-out of their expensive and dirty fossil fuel infrastructure, and transition to clean energy,” said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. “Every year that utilities drag their feet on the clean energy transition is another year where families pay record bills for expensive fossil fuels, another year of extreme weather events, and another year of air and water pollution threatening our health. We cannot afford to wait any longer to bring our grid into the 21st century. As artificial intelligence data centers drive demand for energy, utility companies are rushing to expensive and dangerous fossil fuels, leading to soaring electricity prices and worsening air pollution. The time is now for these companies to transition to affordable, reliable, clean energy to build a healthier and more sustainable energy future. The Sierra Club will continue to push utilities to deploy more renewable energy and work to lower costs and emissions.”
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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.