Don't want a methane plant nearby? Tough. This is Arizona, and you have no say

Since 1971, the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee has reviewed large new methane gas facilities to ensure those projects meet environmental standards.

Thanks to a recent decision by the Corporation Commission, these reviews have now been severely limited.

Electric utilities could now build large methane gas facilities in your neighborhood without engaging with the public or local governments, or assessing environmental compatibility through this process.

This surprising change to the Line Siting Committee’s authority to regulate new energy projects stems from a request made in March by UniSource Electric.

Certification was supposed to protect you

The utility wants to build four methane gas turbines as part of its 200-megawatt Black Mountain Expansion Project near Kingman in Mohave County. But it wanted to avoid the public input on its plant that usually occurs through the certificate of environmental compatibility process.

Both the committee and certificate of environmental compatibility process were created in 1971 when the state Legislature recognized Arizonans lacked a voice in the siting of major energy facilities.

The certification process enables communities burdened by existing energy projects to offer their perspectives about the construction of new facilities.

Last year, a community in Randolph was able to secure a settlement from Salt River Project to address impacts of its 12-turbine expansion of Coolidge Generating Station.

This not only reduced the number of gas units proposed at the site from 16, but provided Randolph with millions of dollars for scholarships, a home rehabilitation program, a community development plan and more.

Now, the commission has taken away a similar opportunity for other rural communities.

UniSource's argument has long been rejected

Only “major facilities” require a certificate of environmental compatibility in Arizona.

According to statute, a “major facility” is any plant that can produce 100 megawatts or more of power.

Instead of filing an application for environmental compatibility review for the 200 MW plant, UniSource decided to adopt an extreme and novel interpretation of the law.

It argued that its 200 MW project was actually four separate “plants,” each producing 50 megawatts — thereby exempting it from environmental review by the Line Siting Committee and input from local communities.

This same argument was rejected by the Corporation Commission in 2007 and has been repeatedly rejected in the granting of certificates of environmental compatibility to similar projects since 1971.

After a two-day hearing, UniSource’s legal argument was soundly rejected by the Line Siting Committee on a 9-2 vote. The utility then appealed to the Corporation Commission.

Despite the committee’s overwhelming rejection of UniSource’s request, utility regulators voted 4-1 along party lines to reverse that ruling — ending more than a half-century of precedent and oversight of these kinds of methane gas plants.

Commission puts profits above Arizonans

Unfortunately, the commissioners’ ruling is but the latest in a string of decisions to place utility profits above Arizonans and the environment.

In January 2023, the Corporation Commission approved a historic 9.4% revenue hike for Southwest Gas .

In November, the commission allowed APS to modify a 20-year-old certificate of environmental compatibility without a hearing and refused to even allow public comment on its decision during an open meeting.

The state regulators also approved a System Reliability Benefit mechanism for two of Arizona’s utilities that will allow them to collect millions of dollars from ratepayers without first having to prove the prudency of a project in a comprehensive rate case.

This decision to approve the mechanism was so abnormal that it prompted the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to request the agency reconsider its decision on the basis that the mechanism was unconstitutional.

Monopoly utilities must be regulated

The core purpose of the Arizona Corporation Commission is to regulate monopoly utilities to protect Arizonans — both our health and our pocketbooks.

But the commission is increasingly abandoning this watchdog role.

Arizonans are already struggling with high utility bills, and this summer may bring even more extreme heat than in 2023.

We deserve better: Commissioners are elected to hold utilities accountable, not give them a free pass.

Emily Doerfler is an attorney with Western Resource Advocates and a Surprise resident. Reach her at emily.doerfler@westernresources.org ; on X, formerly Twitter: @wradv .

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Don't want a methane plant nearby? Tough. This is Arizona, and you have no say