Don't believe the campaign rhetoric: SRP is on the right track

Tyler Francis
Updated ·3 min read

It’s campaign season, and as such, everyone should be highly aware of what we are being told.

A group of environmental extremists — all supported by the Sierra Club — are attempting to take over the Salt River Project’s board of directors.

Their goal to eliminate all natural gas consumption will destabilize our utility, create higher rates for our customers and jeopardize our existing boards’ commitments to delivering reliable, affordable and sustainable energy to our rapidly expanding customer base.

SRP has low rates, environmental goals

Here are the facts:

  • In a state-by-state comparison, SRP offers the second-lowest average rates across residential, industrial and commercial energy in the entire Southwest region. SRP’s rates are 50% to 145% lower than California, 36% lower than Nevada and 12% lower than Colorado.

  • SRP residential rates are more than 15% lower than other providers in Arizona, and our commercial rates are more than 20% lower; and industrial rates are 45% lower.

  • When comparing power companies in the Southwest, SRP is the third-lowest among all providers — offering average rates that are lower than 81% of all other providers.

Here are SRP’s environmental commitments and goals:

  • SRP has managed to reduce carbon intensity by 35% since 2005, despite the dramatic growth happening in our service area.

  • SRP’s proposed new generation carbon goal is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by generation (Per MWH) by 75% from 2005 levels and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Clean Energy Team are ideological extremists

Salt River Project has reduced carbon intensity by 35% since 2005, despite growth.
Salt River Project has reduced carbon intensity by 35% since 2005, despite growth.

The Clean Energy team’s proposals will promote instability and jeopardize grid reliability, particularly during our extreme weather months.

Their advocacy for a rapid shift away from natural gas peak power generation ignores the reality that solar and battery energy is three to four times more expensive than natural gas generation.

The technology underlying their radical proposals simply does not exist today in the real world; it is entirely based upon their ideology.

  • SRP will need to double or triple power resource capacity from a wide range of resources in the next decade.

  • SRP has a plan to add 7,000 MW of new renewable resources, which includes 6,000 MW of new large-scale utility-grade resources by 2035 — enough solar energy to power more than 1.3 million average-sized homes.

  • Having the right mix of sources to manage through the times when solar and wind generation doesn’t match demand (such as when the sun goes down) is imperative to avoid blackouts.

  • By 2035 SRP plans to have 6,000 MW of additional storage capacity. Additionally, SRP’s resource plan calls for more than 15,000 MW of new resources, more than doubling the capacity of the existing system today, to be able to keep up with growth.

Incumbents manage water, power responsibly

In the policy area of water management, SRP’s efforts have been exemplary, guided by our knowledge of the past and our plans for our future.

SRP is the undisputed leader on water management in Arizona.

Our initiatives in recharge, water banking and watershed protection, alongside our partnerships with the Gila River Indian Community, reflect our unwavering commitment to sustainable growth management and our historical roots in Arizona as the first large-scale water management effort in the state.

The call for drastic changes under the influence of extreme advocacy groups (such as the Sierra Club) introduces a dangerous oversimplification of complex policy issues.

SRP’s historic commitment to integrated power and water management has paved the way for a bright future for all SRP customers.

We urge you, our customers, to reward this approach by returning our incumbent board and council members to their roles and adding Lisa Atkins and Victor Flores as new at-large board members to deliver on our commitment to a sustainable, reliable and affordable future.

Tyler Francis is chairman of the SRP Council and represents District 1. He lives in Phoenix. The views are of his own and do not represent Salt River Project. Reach him at  tylerfrancis@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: SRP is affordable and sustainable. Keep it that way this election