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The Arizona Corporation Commission this month repealed the state’s energy efficiency standards.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 The GOP-controlled commission argued the rules were outdated and costing Arizona residents money.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[...]

When most Arizonans think about elections, they think about governor, Congress or the Legislature. Few think about the Arizona Corporation Commission. That’s a problem because there is no elected office in Arizona with a more direct impact on your monthly finances than the five commissioners who serve on the ACC. Every month, millions of Arizonans[...]

Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest public electricity provider, is asking the Arizona Corporation Commission for its third rate increase in four years. This one would raise rates 14%, adding up to about $240 more per year for customers, and many of them are not happy about it. No rate hikes! No rate hikes! No[...]

The Arizona Corporation Commission voted to repeal its Electric Energy Efficiency Standards on Wednesday, finalizing a process that began in 2025. Regulators adopted the efficiency rules in 2010. The rules directed utilities like Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power to reduce their cumulative energy use by 22% by 2020. To do so, utilities were[...]

Arizona’s brutal summer is hard enough without the seasonal shock of opening a utility bill. This year, the state is expected to post the country’s highest electricity costs for the hottest months, according to the Phoenix New Times. For many households, staying safe during extreme heat is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

A proposed Arizona Public Service (APS) rate increase has become a hot topic across the state, particularly in rural communities such as ours, where many households already feel the strain of rising costs. APS is seeking approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission for a rate adjustment that would increase residential bills by roughly 14%, or[...]

The Arizona Corporation Commission is supposed to protect customers from monopoly utilities, but a blistering new Arizona Court of Appeals decision shows the opposite happened in a major APS rate case. The commission’s hearing process helped create, defend and preserve a utility-friendly solar charge that APS itself had not requested. That is a troubling sign[...]