Happy Earth Day!
I think we all could use some good news, don't you? Governor Hobbs has vetoed seven bad water bills that we advocated against, all sponsored by Representative Gail Griffin. In her veto message, the Governor said, "These bills either weaken rural groundwater protections or make pointless, trivial statutory changes that demean the rural Arizonans who have been asking the Legislature for years to institute meaningful rural groundwater management measures."
Please take a moment to thank Governor Hobbs for her veto of these seven bad water bills (by using this
handy form from the Sierra Club.)
Unfortunately, there are three harmful energy bills on the Governor's desk that should be vetoed: HB2527, HB2774, and HB2788. Please, use the Sierra Club form to send her a message. Editing the insert to be in your own words would make it even more impactful.
HB2527 corporation commission; electricity; reliability; management prohibits the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) from authorizing a power plant retirement unless there is a new plant with equal or greater power. It requires that the ACC prioritize thermal (gas, coal, or nuclear) replacement resources for power plant retirements and increase them by 5% by 2030. This would disadvantage renewable resources – solar and wind – as they are not considered dispatchable per the bill definition. HB2527 also includes language to define solar and wind as not reliable as they are intermittent – intermittent and reliable are two different things and should not be conflated as they are in the bill.
HB2774 NOW: small modular reactors; co-location (Carbone) preempts 13 of the 15 counties in Arizona – all except Maricopa and Pima counties – from regulating the location of small modular nuclear reactors if they are co-located with a large industrial electricity user, which in many cases would be data centers. Note that many data centers use significant amounts of water
HB2774 also exempts small modular nuclear reactors from the requirements for a certificate of environmental compatibility (CEC) if they are being co-located with a big electricity user, aka data centers, and when they are replacing a gas or coal plant or other thermal plant. The potential environmental impacts vary between different electricity generating resources and should be evaluated and mitigated in the CEC process.
HB2788 utility; resource plan; commission review (Olson). This bill codifies resource planning provisions for utilities regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). Currently, the provisions for resource planning are in rules and can be changed by the ACC to adjust and adapt to emerging needs. This bill will remove flexibility and could result in limiting public involvement in the resource planning process.
Finally, ask your senator to oppose HB2679! It will help advance the agenda to keep dirty coal plants running longer at the expense of ratepayers, our health, and future generations. Send a message this week. Senators need to hear from you!
