Arizona is setting out to prove clean energy leadership doesn’t exist solely in coastal states like California and New York.
Andrew Tobin, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, proposed a clean energy overhaul Tuesday that would put the state at the front of the pack. The Energy Modernization Plan aims to produce one of the cleanest energy mixes in the nation, while lowering prices for consumers and improving grid reliability.
That means not only tackling the issue of clean baseload power, but also figuring out how to supply peak power in a cost-effective and clean way. Peak hours drive increasing expenses for utilities and their customers, a challenge that intermittent wind and solar alone cannot address. As such, Tobin’s plan includes an 80 percent clean energy target by 2050 coupled with a 3,000-megawatt energy storage procurement target for 2030.
That would leapfrog the state ahead of California and New York, which have dominated the grid modernization discussion so far. They both have 50 percent renewable energy targets on the books for 2030, and storage targets of 1,300 megawatts and 1,500 megawatts, respectively.
“We’re not trying to get on the train; we’re trying to be the engine in the train,” Tobin told GTM. “This is Western people doing things and setting lofty goals and reaching them.”
He has asked to get the concept on the agenda for the ACC’s meeting on February 6. If the five-member commission adopts the plan, as Tobin hopes it will, staff would begin a rulemaking to finalize the official language. That process could take up to a year and would involve stakeholder input.
Time for an update
The state currently is working toward a 15 percent renewable portfolio standard for 2025. The ACC set that policy in 2006, and included a 30 percent carve-out for distributed generation starting in 2012.
Since that time, solar generation has expanded, but so have the other tools available for sophisticated grid planning. That means it’s time for an update, starting with the name. Tobin suggests switching from the “Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff” to the “Clean Resource Energy Standard and Tariff.”
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