Wind Power News: Arizona
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of and copyrighted by the organizations or individuals noted. They are reproduced here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Tucson Electric Power to double its renewable energy output with New Mexico wind project
Tucson Electric Power is building its biggest renewable-energy project yet – a massive wind farm in southeastern New Mexico that will help the company more than double its generation of renewable energy by 2021. The planned Oso Grande Wind Project will generate up to 247 megawatts of power, enough to power nearly 100,000 homes, TEP said. Currently, the biggest renewable-energy project TEP owns or buys energy from is the 72-MW Red Horse wind and solar project near Willcox. Combined with other . . . Complete story »
Ariz. renewable measure fails as Nev. sees split decision
Voters in Arizona trounced a proposal to require more renewable energy yesterday, while Nevadans backed a similar measure but easily defeated a plan to usher in retail electric choice. The results capped months of campaigning that saw tens of millions of dollars pour in from utility and clean energy interests. The mixed outcome offers a window into the priorities of Western voters as they weigh different forms of energy and the role of mandates and competition. Opponents of Arizona’s renewable . . . Complete story »
Arizona voters reject renewable energy mandate
Arizona voters have rejected a measure requiring regulated utilities to obtain 50 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources like solar or wind power by 2030. Proposition 127 was fiercely opposed by the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service. The utility’s parent company spent more than $25 million to oppose the measure, arguing it would raise consumer costs by as much as $1,000 a year per customer annually and hurt the reliability of the state’s electrical grid. The Clean . . . Complete story »
Election 2018: Arizona voters say ‘No’ to renewable energy plan
It seems Arizona voters have decided against Proposition 127, which would have required electric companies to receive half their energy from renewable sources by 2030. If it had passed, Prop. 127 would have effectively increased an existing requirement passed by the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2006. This mandate, known as the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST), already requires regulated electric utilities to generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025. The proposition was backed by the . . . Complete story »
Poll shows tax, clean energy ballot measures losing as Election Day nears
A new poll shows two high-profile Arizona ballot measures, Propositions 126 and 127 losing, and badly, in the case of the clean-energy proposal. Prop. 126 would prevent any new taxes on services, which are not widely taxed in Arizona. Prop. 127 would require electric companies to get half their energy from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2030. Fifty-three percent of respondents to the poll were against Prop. 126, while just under 39 percent said they supported it, according . . . Complete story »
Southern Arizona wind farm investigated after death of bat, eagle
COCHISE COUNTY – In the mountains 20 miles west of Willcox, 15 wind turbines stand 450 feet tall, spinning with the wind. This is the Red Horse II Wind Farm, the only wind farm operating in southern Arizona. The wind farm is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division in connection with the death of a federally protected golden eagle and a lesser long-nosed bat. The bat was listed as endangered in 1988, and in . . . Complete story »
SunZia powerlines would destroy wetlands, kill birds, opponents say
The SunZia power project faces a new objection, this time from an environmental group that fears the high-voltage transmission lines from New Mexico to Arizona will inflict irreparable damage to wetlands and bird populations. The $2 billion project, proposed in 2008, calls for building two 1,500-megawatt lines running 520 miles from central New Mexico to Eloy, between Tucson and Phoenix, to carry wind-generated electricity to Western markets. Opponents question how much renewable energy the lines would actually transport, whether wind-power . . . Complete story »
Trial begins over renewable energy proposal in Arizona
Hundreds of witnesses came to court Monday in downtown Phoenix for a trial over whether a proposal requiring the use of more renewable energy in Arizona should be barred from appearing on the November ballot. Most of the witnesses at the five-day trial had gathered signatures from voters on behalf of the campaign to put the Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona proposal on the ballot. The trial began with an unknown number of signature petitions being thrown out because . . . Complete story »
The $3 billion plan to turn Hoover Dam into a giant battery
Hoover Dam helped transform the American West, harnessing the force of the Colorado River – along with millions of cubic feet of concrete and tens of millions of pounds of steel – to power millions of homes and businesses. It was one of the great engineering feats of the 20th century. Now it is the focus of a distinctly 21st-century challenge: turning the dam into a vast reservoir of excess electricity, fed by the solar farms and wind turbines that represent the . . . Complete story »
APS spends $11 million to keep 50% renewables measure off ballot
“Anchoring a policy in the state constitution is not good policymaking and it really cuts against the market and the operating of the system as it exists in Arizona,” said Greg Bernosky, a former APS regulatory executive who now works at Pinnacle West, the utility’s parent. “All of us understand that more and more clean technology is going to be part of of the future, but anchoring something on a ballot in the constitution is just not the right way to make policy.” Complete story »
