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Showing posts with label TEP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TEP. Show all posts
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Learn & Share: Help Shape Tucson’s Clean Energy Future
Monday, January 9, 2023
Urgent Action: Ask City Council to include Community Choice Energy on City’s Climate Action Plan
Photo credit: Frank Staub
Drafts of the CAAP will be released in two parts, on January 10th and 20th. Public comments will be accepted through Feb. 21. Despite not yet having a roadmap for decarbonizing the City, the City Council and Administration have begun negotiating a new 25-year franchise* agreement with TEP.
Act Now on City’s Climate Action Plan
Mayor and Council will meet January 11 (Wednesday)
Ask Mayor Romero and the City Council to:
- Include Community Choice Energy as an option in the CAAP.
- Adopt the CAAP before negotiating a long-term energy franchise agreement.
- Take whatever time is required to integrate provisions of the CAAP into any new energy franchise agreement. (The current franchise agreement with TEP does not expire until 2026, and we are not obliged to renew that agreement ahead of schedule.)
- Include exit clauses and performance clauses based on a predetermined de-carbonization timetable.
Please send your City Council Member an email today! Council will meet January 11 (Wednesday) and they need to hear from us.
Sample email: Dear Council Member ______, Climate Change is a major threat to our desert city. As your constituent, I'm asking you to approve the Tucson CAAP and integrate community choice energy and carbon reduction goals into all city planning, negotiations, and agreements, including any future TEP Franchise agreement. Please, don't approve a new agreement with TEP until the appropriate CAAP-based elements are considered in the City's long-term energy planning processes.
Note: If you live outside the City and are not represented by a Council member, please send your email about this issue to the Mayor and the City Manager.
Mayor & Council and City Manager | Official website of the City of Tucson (tucsonaz.gov)
* Franchise – Allows TEP to use all the road rights-of-way for their power lines. Must be approved by voters every 25 years (by 2026).
Friday, December 27, 2019
Tell TEP and ACC: Protect Tucson's Future -- We Need Clean Energy Now!
Take Action - Tucson could be a clean energy leader and bring customers affordable, clean power. But right now, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) wants to increase energy costs to prop up dirty fossil fuel plants!
If you haven't already, please, send a letter to the ACC as soon as possible. The public hearings concluded yesterday, but there is still time to submit written comments until February 14.
WHY THIS MATTERS
TEP is asking the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) for permission to increase energy costs on its customers to prop up expensive and harmful gas and coal plants.
TEP's residential customers, including low-income folks, on average, would have to pay over $90 per year more for energy that harms our communities and pollutes our environment. And despite advertising itself as a "green" company, TEP gets over 80% of its power from fossil fuels.
Instead of charging customers more to prop up its dirty, expensive coal and gas plants, TEP should be helping communities transition to clean energy, including Arizona’s potential for a rich solar economy.
We must stop all investments in coal and gas and provide clean, affordable, and local energy to Tucson. The quality of our air and the sustainability of our climate depend on it. Arizona officials must take action to keep Tucson’s electric bills low and clean up our air, including in communities where coal and gas plants are sited.
Take action below -- send a message to Arizona Corporation Commission asking them to protect TEP ratepayers, such as yourself, from fossil fuel pollution and unnecessarily high electricity prices!
Here is the direct link to the public comment form on the ACC website:
https://eservice.azcc.gov/Utilities/PublicComment
There is a place to put the docket number - TEP's rate case docket number is E-01933A-19-0028
Written public comments may be submitted by mailing a letter referencing Docket No. E-01933A-l9-0028 to Arizona Corporation Commission, Consumer Services Section, 1200 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007, or by submitting comments on the Commission's website (www.azcc.gov) using "Cases and Open Meetings" and "Make a Public Comment in a Docket." If you require assistance, you may contact the Consumer Services Section at 602-542-4251 or 1-800-222-7000.
All documents related to this item can be found in the Corporation Commission’s online docket at https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number E-01933A-19-0028.
About the ACC:
The Arizona Corporation Commission was established by the state’s constitution to regulate public utilities and business incorporation. The Corporation Commission is Arizona’s co-equal, fourth branch of government. The five Commissioners elected to the Corporation Commission oversee executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings on behalf of Arizonans when it comes to their water, electricity, telephone, and natural gas resources as well as the regulation of securities, pipeline, and railroad safety. To learn more about the Arizona Corporation Commission and its Commissioners, visit http://azcc.gov.
If you haven't already, please, send a letter to the ACC as soon as possible. The public hearings concluded yesterday, but there is still time to submit written comments until February 14.
WHY THIS MATTERS
TEP is asking the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) for permission to increase energy costs on its customers to prop up expensive and harmful gas and coal plants.
TEP's residential customers, including low-income folks, on average, would have to pay over $90 per year more for energy that harms our communities and pollutes our environment. And despite advertising itself as a "green" company, TEP gets over 80% of its power from fossil fuels.
Instead of charging customers more to prop up its dirty, expensive coal and gas plants, TEP should be helping communities transition to clean energy, including Arizona’s potential for a rich solar economy.
We must stop all investments in coal and gas and provide clean, affordable, and local energy to Tucson. The quality of our air and the sustainability of our climate depend on it. Arizona officials must take action to keep Tucson’s electric bills low and clean up our air, including in communities where coal and gas plants are sited.
Take action below -- send a message to Arizona Corporation Commission asking them to protect TEP ratepayers, such as yourself, from fossil fuel pollution and unnecessarily high electricity prices!
Here is the direct link to the public comment form on the ACC website:
https://eservice.azcc.gov/Utilities/PublicComment
There is a place to put the docket number - TEP's rate case docket number is E-01933A-19-0028
Written public comments may be submitted by mailing a letter referencing Docket No. E-01933A-l9-0028 to Arizona Corporation Commission, Consumer Services Section, 1200 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007, or by submitting comments on the Commission's website (www.azcc.gov) using "Cases and Open Meetings" and "Make a Public Comment in a Docket." If you require assistance, you may contact the Consumer Services Section at 602-542-4251 or 1-800-222-7000.
All documents related to this item can be found in the Corporation Commission’s online docket at https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number E-01933A-19-0028.
###
About the ACC:
The Arizona Corporation Commission was established by the state’s constitution to regulate public utilities and business incorporation. The Corporation Commission is Arizona’s co-equal, fourth branch of government. The five Commissioners elected to the Corporation Commission oversee executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings on behalf of Arizonans when it comes to their water, electricity, telephone, and natural gas resources as well as the regulation of securities, pipeline, and railroad safety. To learn more about the Arizona Corporation Commission and its Commissioners, visit http://azcc.gov.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Tell AZ Corporation Commission Support Energy Efficiency
On January 7th, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) held a special meeting for the swearing in of new commissioner, Sandra Kennedy, and returning commissioner, Justin Olson. In her remarks, Commissioner Kennedy said she would be pursuing an increase in the renewable energy standard and promote transparency and accountability at the ACC, including with the state's largest utility. This is welcome news. Soon after, Commissioner Bob Burns was elected as chair of the ACC and he too is interested in making sure the utilities are accountable to the ratepayers.
The ACC is scheduled to address a number of important issues in the coming months and will be taking up the Arizona Public Service (APS) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) Demand Side Management (DSM aka energy efficiency) plans. Please help let the commissioners know that Arizonans support and want more energy efficiency, the cheapest and cleanest energy resource.
https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Arizona
For more information contact Sandy Bahr at sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org or (602) 999-5790.
Each year, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and Arizona Public Service (APS) file efficiency plans to show how they will meet Arizona's Energy Efficiency Standards. This year, both utilities have filed plans that are inadequate and that fail to take full advantage of our cheapest cleanest energy resource -- energy efficiency.
The energy we save means less water use, less pollution, and more dollars in our pockets.
Please sign our petition to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to require TEP and APS to do more to promote energy efficiency in their plans.
Ask the ACC to require that the plans focus on real energy savings. We need to continue to invest in consumer programs that help reduce energy use in homes and businesses, saving money and reducing pollution and water use.
Click here to sign the following petition. Consider adding a personal comment for more impact.
For more information contact Sandy Bahr at sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org or (602) 999-5790.
Each year, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and Arizona Public Service (APS) file efficiency plans to show how they will meet Arizona's Energy Efficiency Standards. This year, both utilities have filed plans that are inadequate and that fail to take full advantage of our cheapest cleanest energy resource -- energy efficiency.
The energy we save means less water use, less pollution, and more dollars in our pockets.
Please sign our petition to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to require TEP and APS to do more to promote energy efficiency in their plans.
Ask the ACC to require that the plans focus on real energy savings. We need to continue to invest in consumer programs that help reduce energy use in homes and businesses, saving money and reducing pollution and water use.
Click here to sign the following petition. Consider adding a personal comment for more impact.
(The Sierra Club will deliver it to the ACC and have it entered into the docket.)
APS and TEP Energy Efficiency Plans E-01345A-17-0134 and E-01933A-17-0250
Please require APS and TEP to do more to promote energy efficiency in their 2018 Demand Side Management Implementation plans. I ask that you deny the utilities' waiver requests and require that these plans focus on real energy savings for consumers, not just shifting load. Please require that these utilities continue to invest in consumer programs that help reduce energy use in homes and businesses, saving money and reducing pollution and water use. It is outrageous that APS is cutting programs that save dollars for its customers at the same time it is raising rates. The utilities should also include new cost-effective programs in their plans that will provide for even more savings, and they should also be investing in electric vehicles -- they should be doing more of both. Finally, please support strong investments in low-income weatherization to ensure that those with lower incomes can reduce their bills and be more comfortable in their homes, leaving more dollars available for other needs. APS and TEP should have implementation plans that benefit ratepayers by helping them to reduce their bills and better protect their pocketbooks and our air and water at the same time. Thank you for your consideration of these important issues.
APS and TEP Energy Efficiency Plans E-01345A-17-0134 and E-01933A-17-0250
Please require APS and TEP to do more to promote energy efficiency in their 2018 Demand Side Management Implementation plans. I ask that you deny the utilities' waiver requests and require that these plans focus on real energy savings for consumers, not just shifting load. Please require that these utilities continue to invest in consumer programs that help reduce energy use in homes and businesses, saving money and reducing pollution and water use. It is outrageous that APS is cutting programs that save dollars for its customers at the same time it is raising rates. The utilities should also include new cost-effective programs in their plans that will provide for even more savings, and they should also be investing in electric vehicles -- they should be doing more of both. Finally, please support strong investments in low-income weatherization to ensure that those with lower incomes can reduce their bills and be more comfortable in their homes, leaving more dollars available for other needs. APS and TEP should have implementation plans that benefit ratepayers by helping them to reduce their bills and better protect their pocketbooks and our air and water at the same time. Thank you for your consideration of these important issues.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
EPA hurt our ability to stop gas-fired engines. Tell the EPA don't restrict the use of science.
I finally received a response from the Pima Department of Environmental Quality regarding the public comments (including my own) submitted on TEP's permit to install the 10 RICE gas-fired engines in Tucson. I want to thank the members of Sustainable Tucson (especially Duane Ediger for taking the lead), the Sierra Club, and other community members who took the time to go on record regarding this important issue. While our letters didn't result in PDEQ rejecting TEP's permit, we did slow down the process. (It took five months for them to review the comments and approve it.) And they did revise a number of permit conditions including: annual monitoring and reporting to provide reasonable assurance of compliance with the carbon monoxide emission limits for the RICE, and a condition that they would decommission the old generators before the new engines are installed.
Summary of their decision.
It's not over until it's over! Within 30 days after service of this notice announcing the final permit decision, any person who filed
comments on the proposed permit for the TEP Irvington Generating Station or participated in any of the
public hearings for the TEP Irvington Generating Station may petition EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board
(EAB) to review any condition of the final permit.
To: Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
I am writing to express my objection to and concern about the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science" proposal (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2018-0259). I believe that science plays a pivotal role in ensuring our health and safety, preserving our environment, and informing evidence-based policy. This new proposal would undermine the EPA's mission of preserving public health and the environment.
For the EPA to utilize the best available science to shape public health and environmental safeguards, the agency needs to have the ability to use the best research and information. While this proposed rule promises "transparency," it reduces confidentiality and privacy protections by requiring the raw data from these studies to be made public. Consequently, the best available scientific studies in numerous public health fields, where patient privacy prohibits sharing the raw data, would be sidelined. This arbitrary rejection of data from research on air quality, public health, drinking water, hazardous waste, and so many other fields would inhibit the EPA's ability to implement science-based protections.
When policies play a role in our health, safety, and environment, the EPA needs to use the best available evidence and research when finalizing safeguards. This ill-advised proposal would significantly limit the EPA's ability to make the informed policy decisions that the agency is required to under landmark public health and environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act.
I urge you to reconsider this proposed rule and withdraw it immediately.
You are encouraged to file an individual comment to the EPA and share your story about how restrictions on science would harm your health and the environment. The more people who file comments, the less the EPA can ignore the weight of the evidence.
Go to the public comment page to submit your individual comment.
One of the problems the community faced in responding to how TEP's permit complied with PDEQ's code was the absence of cardon dioxide standards. That's right! The code doesn't include carbon dioxide standards because Scott Pruitt put a hold on the Clean Power Plan.
I believe that the EPA's refusal to accept the latest science regarding carbon dioxide greatly hampered our efforts to fight the RICE gas-fired engines! See how important it is that the EPA rely on the best available science when making decisions!
It's about to get worse, unless we speak out!
Now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a rule that would restrict the agency's ability to rely on the best available science to ensure that we have clean air and clean water. This is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the EPA's mission to protect public health and the environment. Our air, water, and health all rely on the EPA using the best available science in decision making.
Please, send an individual letter to the EPA. (Find the link below the sample letter.)
To: Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
I am writing to express my objection to and concern about the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science" proposal (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2018-0259). I believe that science plays a pivotal role in ensuring our health and safety, preserving our environment, and informing evidence-based policy. This new proposal would undermine the EPA's mission of preserving public health and the environment.
For the EPA to utilize the best available science to shape public health and environmental safeguards, the agency needs to have the ability to use the best research and information. While this proposed rule promises "transparency," it reduces confidentiality and privacy protections by requiring the raw data from these studies to be made public. Consequently, the best available scientific studies in numerous public health fields, where patient privacy prohibits sharing the raw data, would be sidelined. This arbitrary rejection of data from research on air quality, public health, drinking water, hazardous waste, and so many other fields would inhibit the EPA's ability to implement science-based protections.
When policies play a role in our health, safety, and environment, the EPA needs to use the best available evidence and research when finalizing safeguards. This ill-advised proposal would significantly limit the EPA's ability to make the informed policy decisions that the agency is required to under landmark public health and environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act.
I urge you to reconsider this proposed rule and withdraw it immediately.
You are encouraged to file an individual comment to the EPA and share your story about how restrictions on science would harm your health and the environment. The more people who file comments, the less the EPA can ignore the weight of the evidence.
Go to the public comment page to submit your individual comment.
Be sure to submit your comment by August 16 at 11:59 p.m., and check your email for a receipt confirmation.
The Union of Concerned Scientists put together a few resources to assist you in writing your comment:
• Check out our helpful guide for writing a public comment.
• Watch our Public Comments 101 webinar on making effective public comments to the EPA.
More on the RICE Generators:
Friday, 10 August 2018, Arizona Daily Star article: Go-ahead for TEP generators dismays environmentalists
The Union of Concerned Scientists put together a few resources to assist you in writing your comment:
• Check out our helpful guide for writing a public comment.
• Watch our Public Comments 101 webinar on making effective public comments to the EPA.
More on the RICE Generators:
Friday, 10 August 2018, Arizona Daily Star article: Go-ahead for TEP generators dismays environmentalists
Monday, May 14, 2018
Ask The AZ Corporation Commission To Support Energy Efficiency
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| Sandy speaking up at the first PDEQ hering. We saved a seat for you! |
I want to thank all of you who took action to stop new natural gas investments in Tucson!
With your help, we made a compelling case to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality to deny Tucson Electric Power (TEP) the air quality permit they need to move forward with their proposed investment in new gas-fired engines at the Sundt Generating Station. We are awaiting a response and decision, but will be sure to keep you updated.
(Jana's note: Our public letter to the president of TEP will be delivered soon.)
While the fight continues to stop natural gas expansion, there is still lots of other work to be done!
You can take action now by signing a petition telling Arizona Corporation Commission to require energy efficiency for TEP!
Energy efficiency is Arizona's cheapest, cleanest energy resource but a plan filed earlier this year by TEP fails to take full advantage of it. The energy we save means less water use, less pollution, and more dollars in our pockets.
Sign our petition to the Arizona Corporation Commission to require TEP to do more to promote energy efficiency.
While the fight continues to stop natural gas expansion, there is still lots of other work to be done!
You can take action now by signing a petition telling Arizona Corporation Commission to require energy efficiency for TEP!
Energy efficiency is Arizona's cheapest, cleanest energy resource but a plan filed earlier this year by TEP fails to take full advantage of it. The energy we save means less water use, less pollution, and more dollars in our pockets.
Sign our petition to the Arizona Corporation Commission to require TEP to do more to promote energy efficiency.
Each year, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and Arizona Public Service (APS) file efficiency plans to show how they will meet Arizona's Energy Efficiency Standards. This year, both utilities have filed plans that are inadequate and that fail to take full advantage of our cheapest cleanest energy resource -- energy efficiency.
The energy we save means less water use, less pollution, and more dollars in our pockets.
Please sign our petition to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to require TEP and APS to do more to promote energy efficiency in their plans.
Ask the ACC to require that the plans focus on real energy savings. We need to continue to invest in consumer programs that help reduce energy use in homes and businesses, saving money and reducing pollution and water use.
Please sign the Sierra Club's petition. We will deliver it to the ACC and have it entered into the docket.
- Sandy Bahr, Grand Canyon Chapter Director of the Sierra Club
The energy we save means less water use, less pollution, and more dollars in our pockets.
Please sign our petition to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to require TEP and APS to do more to promote energy efficiency in their plans.
Ask the ACC to require that the plans focus on real energy savings. We need to continue to invest in consumer programs that help reduce energy use in homes and businesses, saving money and reducing pollution and water use.
Please sign the Sierra Club's petition. We will deliver it to the ACC and have it entered into the docket.
- Sandy Bahr, Grand Canyon Chapter Director of the Sierra Club
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
For the Love of Tucson: Sign the Community Letter to the President of TEP
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| Looking ahead to a bright future for Tucson. |
"We are looking ahead, as is one of the first mandates given us as chiefs, to make sure and to make every decision that we make relate to the welfare and well-being of the seventh generation to come.”
-Onondaga Chief Oren Lyons
Climate change is real and it is progressing faster than scientists first predicted. We aren't talking about some distant dilemma. The devastating impacts are already being felt around the world. In Tucson, we are experiencing record temperatures - every year hotter than the last. There is no more time to waste. We need to get carbon dioxide below 350 ppm immediately.
Sustainable Tucson is greatly concerned about TEP’s unambitious goal of transitioning to 30% clean energy by 2025. TEP is proposing modernizing the Sundt Generating Station by replacing two 1950's era steam units with ten natural gas-fired combustion engines. These RICE units would create significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, the project expects to cause an increase in emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter (fine particles PM2.5 and coarse particles PM10) and volatile organic compounds.
Please join Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter, Sustainable Tucson, Arizona Interfaith Power and Light and many individuals and organizations in calling on TEP to act for the well-being of present and future generations.
Please consider sharing this with people and communities who might also like to sign.
http://renewnow.us/
Renewable energy, supplemented by energy storage systems, is a better option for many reasons. The Arizona Corporation Commission strongly urged TEP to turn in this direction.
Our advocacy team and other community members have been actively fighting the permit process for installation of the RICE units. Duane Ediger took a week off of work to study the TEP's permit to see if it met the Pima County code. With the help of the Sierra Club, Duane uncovered some inconsistencies that he shared with the community so we could submit relevant comments to the Pima Department of Environmental Quality.
Our advocacy team and other community members have been actively fighting the permit process for installation of the RICE units. Duane Ediger took a week off of work to study the TEP's permit to see if it met the Pima County code. With the help of the Sierra Club, Duane uncovered some inconsistencies that he shared with the community so we could submit relevant comments to the Pima Department of Environmental Quality.
While awaiting a response, Duane worked with Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter and Sustainable Tucson to draft a public letter to David G. Hutchens, President of Tucson Electric Power Company.
The letter explains that:
We need electricity generation that will leave a legacy of environmental recovery and take us off the path of harm. We implore you, together with all utility managers, to reduce and eliminate fossil fuel-burning plants from your energy mix as quickly as possible. We call on you to use the best and most recent data as you reconsider your current Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and its reliance on natural gas. Your next IRP should focus on clean renewable energy and energy efficiency rather than fossil fuels in order to ensure that the next seven generations of Pima County residents and the surrounding communities have a chance to enjoy, treasure, and protect the beauty of our Sonoran Desert free of the pollution that fossil fuels cause to our water and air. We urge you to start immediately in the heart of Tucson by installing solar plus storage at and near the IGS (Irvington Generating Station.)
Please join Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter, Sustainable Tucson, Arizona Interfaith Power and Light and many individuals and organizations in calling on TEP to act for the well-being of present and future generations.
Please consider sharing this with people and communities who might also like to sign.
http://renewnow.us/
Thursday, April 5, 2018
My letter to the City Council urging them to fight against TEP's gas-fired generators
I want to thank everyone who took a stand against TEP's proposed RICE gas-fired generators. You were amazing! Sustainable Tucson's advocacy group is awaiting responses from the Pima Department of Environmental Quality regarding our individual comments. I'm afraid this is just the beginning.... Meanwhile, I would like to share the letter I just e-mailed to Mayor Rothschild and the Tucson City Council members detailing some of our efforts and asking for them to join the good fight. I hope this inspires you to write a letter to your council member (maybe not so long...lol)
Dear City Council Member_____,
The city council
committed to support the Paris Climate Agreement and take steps to combat
climate change. But it will take a more proactive approach than adding some
solar panels on city property or installing a few water recharge basins.
With some strong leadership, Tucson could become a model for sustainable practices. An oasis in the desert. A destination for ecological tourism. But none of this will be possible if we continue to accelerate climate change by allowing TEP to install 10 gas-fired RICE generators, encouraging our car culture by widening roads, and approving perpetual development (beyond what our annual rains can sustain.)
First things first. As you know, TEP is proposing modernizing the Sundt Generating Station by replacing two 1950's era steam units with ten natural gas fired combustion engines. The purpose of the new generators is to ramp up more quickly and to balance the variability associated with solar and wind energy generation. TEP claims that these units are part of a larger goal for 30% renewable energy by 2030. But gas fired engines should not be equated with clean, renewable power from wind and solar. The RICE units are fossil-fuel based generating units that would create significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, the project expects to cause an increase in emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter (fine particles PM2.5 and coarse particles PM10) and volatile organic compounds.
As a member of Sustainable Tucson, I am concerned about TEP’s unambitious goal of transitioning to 30% clean energy by 2030. The negative impacts of climate change are progressing much faster than that – even faster than scientists first predicted. We are already witnessing its devastating effects. If TEP is truly dedicated to transitioning to clean energy, why would they be installing 10 new pollution spewing gas-fired generators that last 30 years?
With some strong leadership, Tucson could become a model for sustainable practices. An oasis in the desert. A destination for ecological tourism. But none of this will be possible if we continue to accelerate climate change by allowing TEP to install 10 gas-fired RICE generators, encouraging our car culture by widening roads, and approving perpetual development (beyond what our annual rains can sustain.)
First things first. As you know, TEP is proposing modernizing the Sundt Generating Station by replacing two 1950's era steam units with ten natural gas fired combustion engines. The purpose of the new generators is to ramp up more quickly and to balance the variability associated with solar and wind energy generation. TEP claims that these units are part of a larger goal for 30% renewable energy by 2030. But gas fired engines should not be equated with clean, renewable power from wind and solar. The RICE units are fossil-fuel based generating units that would create significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, the project expects to cause an increase in emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter (fine particles PM2.5 and coarse particles PM10) and volatile organic compounds.
As a member of Sustainable Tucson, I am concerned about TEP’s unambitious goal of transitioning to 30% clean energy by 2030. The negative impacts of climate change are progressing much faster than that – even faster than scientists first predicted. We are already witnessing its devastating effects. If TEP is truly dedicated to transitioning to clean energy, why would they be installing 10 new pollution spewing gas-fired generators that last 30 years?
Members of Sustainable Tucson’s Advocacy team have been actively fighting the permit process for installation. First, we submitted comments to the Corporation Commission. I wrote the following comment:
In Commissioner Tobin’s Arizona’s Energy
Modernization Plan, he outlined steps for Affordability and Reliability. The
first recommendation is “Thoughtful planning so the transition to clean energy
is gradual and considers the useful life of existing facilities while not
locking into new non-clean energy investments that may be stranded in the near
future.” Aren’t the RICE Generators locking us into non-clean energy
investments that may be stranded in the future?
My engineer husband, Dan Stormont, and I have been following the rapid innovations happening in solar storage and believe that they will be an economically feasible option in the near future. Battery storage has already resulted in the cancellation of proposed gas peaker plants in California. Regulators there are even requiring utilities to open competitive solicitations for solar + battery storage that are likely to supplant three existing gas peaker plants.
My engineer husband, Dan Stormont, and I have been following the rapid innovations happening in solar storage and believe that they will be an economically feasible option in the near future. Battery storage has already resulted in the cancellation of proposed gas peaker plants in California. Regulators there are even requiring utilities to open competitive solicitations for solar + battery storage that are likely to supplant three existing gas peaker plants.
Our team celebrated when the Arizona Corporation Commission refused to consider Tucson Electric Power’s Integrated Resource Plan – indicating that it would issue a moratorium on new natural gas-fired energy production projects. But we were appalled to learn that the ACC approved TEP’s underhanded plan to meet the imposed moratorium (not to exceed 175 megawatts) by phasing the construction into two 100 megawatt installations. There appears to be some shady dealings going on here. (This should not be a big surprise since some commissioners were under investigation for accepting dark money campaign donations.)
Our team's next step was contacting a member of the Board of Supervisors. When asked what he could do to deny TEP’s permit for the RICE generators, the supervisor claimed that their hands were tied - that it’s up to the EPA to set the laws about climate change. But, really, what are the chances of that happening with climate change denier Scott Pruitt at the helm of the EPA?
Our team met with a similar challenge when we submitted comments to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality on how TEP’s permit doesn't meet the criteria for issuance prescribed in the Pima County Code. We couldn’t even argue that TEP didn’t meet the standards for carbon dioxide emissions since there was nothing in Pima’s code regarding carbon dioxide emissions. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had delayed implementing the Clean Power Plan which places first-ever limits on the huge quantities of carbon pollution emitted by our country’s electric power plants.
Three of our members spoke up at the public hearing held by the zoning examiner. We asked that the City of Tucson deny TEP’s request for a special zoning designation (Planned Area Development – “PAD”) because TEP’s request for rezoning contradicts Plan Tucson’s call for: (a) Increased renewable energy sources; (b) Recruiting, retaining and expanding Tucson’s key economic sectors in renewable energy; c) Increasing or promoting environmentally sensitive industry; and (d) “. . .[N]o compromise on principles of equity, fairness, justice, prosperity, livability, and environmental integrity.”
The Tucson zoning official explained that Plan Tucson’s provisions are not grounds to deny the TEP’s zoning request. He approved the zoning permit claiming it didn’t break any zoning codes. But when those zoning codes were written, we weren’t staring in the face of climate change!
Sustainable Tucson's
advocacy team has done everything we can think of to stop the installation of
TEP’s dirty generators. But we’ve been stopped by unethical roadblocks from the
EPA. Now we need your help. It is
time for bold action - to think outside of the box. It’s time to create new
codes and ordinances that protect Tucson
from the devastation of climate change and delay any permits until those codes
and ordinances are put into effect.
The Tucson City Council committed to support the Paris Climate Agreement and take vital steps to combat climate change. It’s time to ask yourself some hard questions. Was that pledge just words or are you committed to doing everything you can to combat climate change to protect our children and the future of Tucson? If the answer to that question is yes, you need to ask yourself one more question, “Am I doing everything I can?”
The Tucson City Council committed to support the Paris Climate Agreement and take vital steps to combat climate change. It’s time to ask yourself some hard questions. Was that pledge just words or are you committed to doing everything you can to combat climate change to protect our children and the future of Tucson? If the answer to that question is yes, you need to ask yourself one more question, “Am I doing everything I can?”
Sustainable Tucson is
here to support your efforts to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement and protect
our beloved town. Feel free to contact me if there is anything we can do to
help.
Sincerely,
Jana Segal
Sustainable Tucson Environmental Advocacy Group
 |
| Keep up the good fight! |
Saturday, March 31, 2018
ASK THE EPA NOT TO REPEAL THE CLEAN POWER PLAN
The Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has begun the process of repealing the Clean Power Plan, which places first-ever limits on the huge quantities of carbon pollution emitted by our country’s electric power plants. Reining in these emissions is crucial to making progress against the worsening climate crisis.
Pruitt’s action is unacceptable. We need this vital, commonsense safeguard that will greatly reduce the United States’ largest source of carbon emissions. Tell the EPA to enforce the Clean Power Plan and defend our communities’ right to clean energy and a healthy future.
Pruitt’s announcement cements his guiding environmental principle: Prop up the dying fossil fuel industry at any cost. This industry poisons the air and water of our most vulnerable communities while we watch the immediate impacts of climate change in real time. Our ocean is turning into a pressure cooker for hurricanes such as Harvey, Irma and Maria, which collectively have killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands.
We don’t have time to sit this fight out until the political winds shift in our favor. We need to tackle our climate crisis now.
Demand that the Clean Power Plan remain in place—and tell the EPA to double down on our commitment to a clean energy future.
- Earth Justice
On a more personal note: This delay has hurt Tucson. Some members of our community (myself included) tried to oppose TEP's petition to install 10 RICE gas-fired engines using the Pima County code. But we ran into a wall because there was nothing in their code about carbon dioxide - due to Scott Pruitt's efforts in the EPA. We need strong regulations that allow citizens to fight for clean air and the health of our communities. It seems the only way to make the fossil fuel industry do what's right for our health and the planet is to regulate them. The only recourse we have is the Clean Power Plan.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Speaking Up Against TEP's Proposed Gas-fired Generators
As I mentioned in a previous blog, TEP is proposing modernizing the Sundt Generating Station by replacing two 1950's era steam units with ten natural gas fired combustion engines. The RICE units are fossil-fuel based generating units that would create significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Pima Department of Environmental Quality, the project expects to cause an increase in emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds.
Last night 30 people from the Irvington neighborhood and our Tucson community attended the march to protest the gas-fired engines being installed in their neck of the woods. 50 people showed up to show support at PDEQ's public hearing. 30 of those, myself included, spoke up.
Some people explained how carbon dioxide from the engines would accelerate climate change and how that would devastate our city. But I'm afraid those comments about green house emissions won't have any impact. We were limited to commenting on how TEP's permit meets the criteria for issuance prescribed in the Arizona Revised Statutes, Section § 49-481 of the Pima County Code. All of those important comments about climate change were disregarded because CO2 isn't included in Pima's code. (I know! I couldn't believe it either!)
A few of us from Sustainable Tucson's advocacy group and the Sierra Club have been combing through Pima's code - trying to find some inconsistencies or ANYTHING we can use stop the PDEQ from issuing a permit for the RICE engines. The deadline for comments to the PDEQ was Thursday, March 29th. Here are some angles that our team member uncovered.
But what I found to be really powerful was how the people from the neighborhood spoke their truth to power. They bravely told stories about how TEP's environmental racism had impacted the health of their loved ones. I think that might just be the angle we need for our comments to the PDEQ. On their letter announcing this hearing, they wrote:
Pima County has completed an extensive review of the permit application, examined the air quality impact analysis of the project and considered environmental justice to protect the health and environment of minority, low-income, tribal and indigenous populations.
After hearing the heartfelt comments from people in the neighborhood, something occurred to me. I believe that PDEQ did not take into account the special circumstances of how the pollutants from the new gas-fired engines would impact the vulnerable population that is already suffering from cancer, lupus, asthma, heart valve defects, birth defects, arthritis, and central nervous system disorders from decades of dioxane in their water and the pollution from Sundt's coal-fired plants.
A 2010 study by the Clean Air Task Force showed the burning of coal at Sundt causes approximately 68 asthma attacks, 6 heart attacks and 4 deaths every year. Built in 1967, the Sundt plant ranked 13th worst in the NAACP’s environmental justice performance ranking.
If you're a member of one of the families who suffered from any of these diseases, you might want to use this angle and share your story for the record. I encourage you to back it up with data (included on this blog and the links provided). (The deadline has expired. It was Thursday, March 29th.) Here are the directions.
TEP’s environmental justice argument leaves things to argue with:
TEP notes the stark socioeconomic divide between the population in its 38 square-mile Impact Area – a full 18% of our City’s population – and the 82% of Tucsonans who live outside the plant’s shadow. “Minority” (i.e. global majority) 85% (Tucson 56%); Low income 63% (Tucson 51%); Linguistically isolated: 15% (Tucson 6%); % w/o HS diploma 32% (Tucson 17%). Although asthma rates are not broken down to a small scale, TEP noted that between 2012 and 2014, CDC recorded a nationwide increase from 7.0% to 8.4% while Arizona’s statewide number climbed from 8.9% to 9.6%.
For inconsistencies in TEP's Environmental Justice Analysis, scroll down to:
TEP’s environmental justice argument leaves things to argue with with on this page:
I will leave you with Oscar Medina's speech for inspiration:
I will leave you with Oscar Medina's speech for inspiration:
"My name is Oscar Medina. I am a father, an educator, member of Sierra Club, and a community organizer with Tierra y Libertad Organization. I am here today to express my concern and opposition to TEP’s proposal for 10 new Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine (RICE) natural gas units at the Sundt Plant location.
I live less than 2 miles away from the TEP’s Sundt Plant location. I have three children: One who attends the Tucson Gymnastics center located near the intersection of Irvington and Alvernon Way. We drive by the plant at least three times a week and the facility does not appear to look the healthiest. My daughter’s school is located just one mile from the intersections of Drexel and Alvernon Way. This is only a few hundred feet from location of the proposed RICE units.
I attended the neighborhood meetings that were hosted by TEP and gave my testimony in opposition to their application at the Arizona Corporation Commission hearing. TEP is framing this project as a campus modernization project. This is deceiving to our community. This expansion project is not about people or the environment, this is about cutting cost and putting profit into the pockets of the TEP investors. At the open house meeting Feb. 15th, I learned from the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality that in the past, TEP has not always complied with the air quality regulations, and that air monitoring reports demonstrated excessive carbon monoxide emission. This demonstrates that TEP is not afraid the break the rules again and pollute our neighborhoods.
The open houses that were held before this hearing were not only missing people from the surrounding neighborhoods but they were missing the pictures of children suffering from respiratory illness in parts of south Tucson. The open house was missing pictures of the effects that emissions of carbon monoxide have on people's health. Let's put the bar graphs and data to the side and paint a clear picture. Our children can see right through TEP’s dirty data. This is another clear example of the ongoing environmental racism still occurring in 2018. This fight against pollution that goes years back to the San Juan and Navajo generating stations. Where are the reparations for harming our Dine* brothers and sisters? That is a dark history that TEP does not wish remember. TEP’s plans and their time frame to expand renewable energy resources to 30 percent by 2030 has expired for our neighborhoods. The stakes are too high. TEP’s polluting practices are not welcome in our backyards. Remember that we are the people that breath this dirty air. Let's keep it clean and simple, divest from coal and gas, keep it renewable and let the future be wind and solar energy."
*The word Dine' is from their own language and means "the people."
*The word Dine' is from their own language and means "the people."
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Power Generation for Generations to come - YES to Solar + Storage! NO to fossil fuels
TEP is proposing modernizing the Sundt Generating Station by replacing two 1950's era steam units with ten natural gas fired combustion engines. The purpose of the new engines is to ramp up more quickly and to balance the variability associated with solar and wind energy generation. But all that ramping spouts more pollution into the air than the current steam units.
TEP claims that these units are part of a larger goal for 30% renewable energy by 2030, but gas fired engines should not be equated with clean, renewable power from wind and solar. The RICE units are fossil-fuel based generating units that would create significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, the project expects to cause an increase in emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter (fine particles PM2.5 and coarse particles PM10) and volatile organic compounds.
Over a third of carbon dioxide emissions in the US are from power plants.
TEP needs to stop promoting the idea of "clean gas." Just stop. It reeks of Big Oil rhetoric! Burning fossil fuel still emits about 60 percent as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide as coal. Fracking for gas releases vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide pollution. Gas extraction harms wildlife, disrupts ecosystems, and has been proven to contaminate water and even cause earthquakes throughout the U.S.
Neighborhoods in southeast Tucson have suffered from decades of coal and gas pollution from the Sundt plant. Pollution from the Irvington Campus has had negative health effects for generations. Now TEP is proposing a plant that will emit hazardous air pollutants that are harmful to our health, including benzene, fluorene, naphthalene, and toluene. This proposal will cause a net increase in pollution from particulate matter, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and sulfur hexafluoride.
And none of this is necessary! Utility-scale battery storage can provide the fast acting support that TEP needs to incorporate intermittent renewables like wind and solar even faster than gas units.
TEP claims that the RICE units are the most cost-effective option to incorporate intermittent renewables, but did they even consider clean alternatives to the RICE units? By pairing batteries with solar resources, utilities can use tax credits to reduce their costs. The prices for solar-plus-storage and windplus-storage systems have been plummeting, leading to record-breaking low prices in energy projects in other states. Colorado recently beat a record that Arizona held for the lowest-cost solar-plus-storage project. The median project in Colorado’s energy solicitation was 20% lower than TEP’s NextEra solarplus-storage project.
Sundt Generating Station represents a prime opportunity to choose renewable resources instead of building brand new fossil-fuel reliant projects. We have a great opportunity here! TEP’s service territory sits in one of the richest renewable resource zones in the country. Renewable energy creates far more jobs than fossil fuels. According to the Department of Energy, Arizona’s clean energy and energy efficiency industries already employ nearly 5 times as many people as the fossil fuel industry, and there is much room to grow. So why isn't TEP doing what's best for Tucson's economy and health?
TEP’s target to serve only 30% of its load with renewable energy by 2030 isn't nearly ambitious enough to protect Arizona’s air and water and to limit the impacts of climate change. It's time for our governing officials to demonstrate some strong leadership and do what's right for the people of Tucson and the future of our city.
The time for action is NOW - while we still have this window of opportunity. We can make a difference. Our city council can make a difference with some bold leadership! This is something concrete we can all do to leave a better life for our children in Tucson.
TEP needs to stop promoting the idea of "clean gas." Just stop. It reeks of Big Oil rhetoric! Burning fossil fuel still emits about 60 percent as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide as coal. Fracking for gas releases vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide pollution. Gas extraction harms wildlife, disrupts ecosystems, and has been proven to contaminate water and even cause earthquakes throughout the U.S.
Neighborhoods in southeast Tucson have suffered from decades of coal and gas pollution from the Sundt plant. Pollution from the Irvington Campus has had negative health effects for generations. Now TEP is proposing a plant that will emit hazardous air pollutants that are harmful to our health, including benzene, fluorene, naphthalene, and toluene. This proposal will cause a net increase in pollution from particulate matter, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and sulfur hexafluoride.
And none of this is necessary! Utility-scale battery storage can provide the fast acting support that TEP needs to incorporate intermittent renewables like wind and solar even faster than gas units.
TEP claims that the RICE units are the most cost-effective option to incorporate intermittent renewables, but did they even consider clean alternatives to the RICE units? By pairing batteries with solar resources, utilities can use tax credits to reduce their costs. The prices for solar-plus-storage and windplus-storage systems have been plummeting, leading to record-breaking low prices in energy projects in other states. Colorado recently beat a record that Arizona held for the lowest-cost solar-plus-storage project. The median project in Colorado’s energy solicitation was 20% lower than TEP’s NextEra solarplus-storage project.
Sundt Generating Station represents a prime opportunity to choose renewable resources instead of building brand new fossil-fuel reliant projects. We have a great opportunity here! TEP’s service territory sits in one of the richest renewable resource zones in the country. Renewable energy creates far more jobs than fossil fuels. According to the Department of Energy, Arizona’s clean energy and energy efficiency industries already employ nearly 5 times as many people as the fossil fuel industry, and there is much room to grow. So why isn't TEP doing what's best for Tucson's economy and health?
TEP’s target to serve only 30% of its load with renewable energy by 2030 isn't nearly ambitious enough to protect Arizona’s air and water and to limit the impacts of climate change. It's time for our governing officials to demonstrate some strong leadership and do what's right for the people of Tucson and the future of our city.
The time for action is NOW - while we still have this window of opportunity. We can make a difference. Our city council can make a difference with some bold leadership! This is something concrete we can all do to leave a better life for our children in Tucson.
Actions to take in March 2018
1. Contact your Pima County Supervisor. Ask them to deny TEP’s request for increased air pollution limits for the proposed installation of ten gas-fired Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) at the SundtGenerating Plant in Tucson. Most County officials claim that the County’s hands are tied, and that the decision is up to the EPA. But the County’s Department of Environmental Quality is holding public hearings, and even added one on March 28.
2. Contact your City of Tucson Council member and Mayor Rothschild (see Ward maps) and ask them to deny TEP’s request for a special zoning designation (Planned Area Development – “PAD”) because TEP’s request for rezoning contradicts the Tucson General Plan’s call for:
(a) Increased renewable energy sources;
(b) Recruiting, retaining and expanding Tucson’s key economic sectors in renewable energy;
(c) Increasing or promoting environmentally sensitive industry; and
(d) “. . .[N]o compromise on principles of equity, fairness, justice, prosperity, livability, and environmental integrity.”
TEP should not be rewarded for having previously failed to comply with development standards.
Additional Resource: Sierra Club talking point for recent City of Tucson zoning hearing
3. Join local neighbors, sustainable organizations, and the Sierra Club for a Rally and March on Wednesday, March 28.
4:15 p.m. Rally at TEP headquarters, 88 E Broadway.
March to the Pima County Public Works office, 201 N. Stone Ave, for…
4:15 p.m. Rally at TEP headquarters, 88 E Broadway.
March to the Pima County Public Works office, 201 N. Stone Ave, for…
4. Pima County Department of Environmental Quality community meeting March 28, 2018, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at the Pima County Public Works Building, 201 N Stone basement Conference Room C, on TEP’s permit application.
https://www.facebook.com/events/988829857935438/
Those unable to attend may submit written comments. Those who leave comments are qualified to appeal, but the comments must pertain to on how the permit meets the criteria for issuance prescribed in the Arizona Revised Statutes, Section § 49-481 of the Pima County Code.
More information here:
http://renewnow.us/sundt/action.htm
https://www.facebook.com/events/988829857935438/
Those unable to attend may submit written comments. Those who leave comments are qualified to appeal, but the comments must pertain to on how the permit meets the criteria for issuance prescribed in the Arizona Revised Statutes, Section § 49-481 of the Pima County Code.
http://renewnow.us/sundt/action.htm
The deadline to make public comments is THURSDAY. A well thought out public comment could stop the 10 gas-fired engines from being installed. But to be counted the comments MUST focus on how the permit doesn't meet the criteria for issuance prescribed in the Arizona Revised Statutes Section § 49-481 and Title 17 of the Pima County Code.
We need someone with the time and ability to comb through those government regulations to find inconsistencies in the revised statues or someone who has some knowledge in atmospheric science who can discuss how TEP's permit doesn't meet the Pima County Code air quality standards (like Ozone emissions). This will require an analytical mind and some time to do some research. Please, pass this onto any scientists or legal experts you know. This is our chance to save generations of Tucsonans from more toxic pollution.
Note: the codes do not include anything about greenhouse emissions, so the impact of climate change is not that is not a helpful argument for the public comments - but air quality is.
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