Arizona is using more electricity than ever. Extreme heat is pushing the grid to new records, data centers are adding enormous new demand, and families are already struggling with high summer power bills. This is exactly when Arizona should be getting more serious about using energy wisely. Instead, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has moved[...]

As the number of data centers across the U.S. continues to increase, so does public opposition to them. That has some Arizona leaders looking for new standards for what acceptable data center development could look like. That public sentiment against data centers was highlighted at a recent protest in Phoenix, where resident Nile Bunger showed[...]

Residents who want to learn more about a controversial data center and natural gas power plant near Glendale will have the opportunity to do so on Aug. 12. A neighborhood meeting is scheduled for residents to ask questions about Project Eagle, the data-center component of a large development planned near Litchfield Road and Olive Avenue.

Arizona summers are unforgiving. So are rising bills. When temperatures soar, electricity is not a luxury; it is what keeps families safe. Extreme heat traps people indoors, and higher utility rates punish them for trying to stay well. For families, seniors, people living paycheck to paycheck and unemployed workers like me, the electric bill is[...]

The Arizona Corporation Commission this month repealed the state’s energy efficiency standards. They’d been in effect for about 15 years. That followed utility regulators doing away with Arizona’s renewable energy standards. The GOP-controlled commission argued the rules were outdated and costing Arizona residents money. But critics of the move, like Diane Brown, say the opposite[...]