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HCM 2014

corporation commission; reliable energy

57th Legislature - First Regular Session Introduced by Justin Olson

Urge the Arizona Corporation Commission to prioritze affordable, reliable, dispatchable energy and oppose Net Zero plans that retire coal for intermittent resources.

Transmit to Secretary of State
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Bill Summary · HCM 2014

HCM 2014 — Summary: “corporation commission; reliable energy”

Status: Concurrent Memorial — Passed both chambers; transmitted to Secretary of State (filed May 7, 2025).
Introduced: Feb 12, 2025. Sponsor: Rep. Olson.

What this measure is

HCM 2014 is a concurrent memorial (nonbinding formal request) from the Arizona Legislature to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). It urges the ACC to prioritize “affordable and reliable” electric generation, to oppose utility commitments to go “Net Zero,” and to take specific actions intended to preserve and restore dispatchable generation—particularly coal-fired capacity.

Purpose and intent

  • Urge the ACC to ensure Arizona’s electric grid is powered by reliable, affordable, and dispatchable energy.
  • Prevent regulated utilities from committing to “Net Zero” plans that, the memorial asserts, would retire coal and replace it with intermittent resources (solar, wind, batteries).
  • Direct the ACC to reconsider prior approvals for coal plant retirements and to require utilities to revise integrated resource plans (IRPs) to prioritize baseload/dispatchable resources.
  • Encourage adoption of a national model policy called “Only Pay for What You Get” so utilities recover costs only for the reliable portion of new generation.

Key provisions (requests directed to the ACC)

  1. Ensure the grid is powered by affordable, reliable generation.
  2. Prevent utilities from pursuing “Net Zero” trajectories that would close dispatchable plants and substitute intermittent resources.
  3. (In Senate-engrossed text) Immediately reconsider decisions approving coal plant closures — specifically naming Cholla (planned retirement 2025) and Four Corners (2031).
  4. Require regulated utilities to revise, update and resubmit IRPs emphasizing cost-effective baseload and dispatchable power portfolios.
  5. Support the federal administration’s energy agenda (the memorial cites presidential declarations and executive orders dated Jan 20 and Apr 8, 2025) that promote coal and other “reliable” energy sources.
  6. Adopt the “Only Pay for What You Get” policy to limit cost recovery to reliable generation value.
  7. Transmit copies of the memorial to the ACC chair and each commissioner.

Background and factual claims included in the memorial

The memorial summarizes prior state actions and assertions, including:
- 2006 Renewable Energy Standard (15% renewables by 2025; claimed $2.3 billion cost to ratepayers).
- Rejection of 2018 Prop 127 (50% by 2030) by voters.
- 2020 ACC docket on 100% renewables by 2050 (a third-party analysis, as cited, estimated $6 billion cost; the mandate was rejected).
- Voluntary utility “Net Zero by 2050” commitments and the claimed retirement of coal capacity (3,453 MW since 2013; 426 MW planned Cholla retirement in 2025; further retirements totaling ~3,520 MW by 2032).
- Comparative cost and reliability assertions (e.g., Germany electricity costs, estimates of higher costs in mandate states, CO2/temperature claims, and an asserted $78 trillion global cost figure). These are presented as the memorial’s findings, not as independent facts verified here.

Who is affected

  • Arizona Corporation Commission (recipient of the memorial; asked to take action).
  • Regulated electric utilities (directed to change planning and defer retirements).
  • Ratepayers, large consumers, hospitals, schools, and industries (identified in the memorial as stakeholders whose service and bills are at risk).
  • Existing coal generation units and related workforce/communities.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Passed House and Senate (House passed May 6, 2025; Senate passed April 30, 2025).
  • Filed in Secretary of State’s office on May 7, 2025.
  • As a concurrent memorial, it is a formal legislative request but does not by itself change statutes or regulatory authority. Any ACC action in response would be subject to the Commission’s separate rulemaking, dockets, or orders.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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