Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is challenging the Arizona Corporation Commission’s repeal of energy efficiency standards over an alleged legal error.
The Electric Energy Efficiency Standards (EEES Rules) required utilities like Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power to reduce their consumers’ overall energy usage by 22% by 2020 through cost and energy savings programs.
Commissioners voted to repeal the standards in July, saying they had expired in 2020 and that utilities had exceeded their target.
Mayes contends that interpretation is incorrect and that the savings-target deadline was just that — a target, and that no expiration order exists within the rules. Mayes was chairman of the commission when it adopted the efficiency standards in 2010.
To finalize the repeal, Mayes says the commission must complete a series of economic assessments.
Mayes has also challenged the commission’s earlier repeal of the state’s Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff Rules over a lack of economic analyses and related public comment. The REST rules required ACC-regulated utilities to generate 15% of their energy from renewable resources by 2025.
The ACC’s stated reason for repealing those standards was that they had served their purpose in expanding renewable energy in Arizona and utilities were collecting billions in ratepayer surcharges to remain in compliance.
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