Arizona regulators have rejected Salt River Project’s proposed expansion of the Coolidge Generating Station, a gas-fired power plant in Pinal County, citing concerns about the impacts on the nearby Randolph community.

The Arizona Corporation Commission voted 4-1 on Tuesday to deny a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility for the project.

The expansion would have added 16 gas turbines to the Coolidge plant with a combined capacity of 820 MW. The generating station’s current capacity is 575 MW from 12 single-cycle turbine units, according to SRP’s website.

SRP said the project is needed to meet growing energy demand as more residents, manufacturers and industrial users move to the area. The utility is forecasting growth in peak demand of about 16% by 2025, or roughly 1,200 MW.

In addition, the expansion would provide reliability to support the addition of renewable energy, SRP said.

Commissioner Sandra Kennedy agreed that additional capacity is needed but said it doesn’t have to come from “a polluting fossil-gas facility.”

“An investment of $1 billion … on fossil-fuel infrastructure in 2022, when that money could instead be used to accelerate clean energy technology, is a tragic displacement of funds,” Kennedy said.

Incomplete Info Alleged

Commission Chair Lea Márquez Peterson said SRP didn’t provide complete information on the project.

SRP did not issue an all-source request for proposals for the expansion, saying it had previous RFPs that provided enough data, according to an order approved by the commission. But data from the past RFPs allegedly were not submitted as part of the record in the application.

A required power flow and stability study also wasn’t provided to the commission, according to the order.

And even though SRP contracted with E3 to see how much solar plus storage would be needed to provide the same reliability as the natural gas expansion, the utility didn’t provide the complete study to the commission’s Line Siting Committee or to the SRP board before a vote to move ahead with the project, the order stated.

Commissioner Justin Olson was the lone “no” vote on denying the expansion. He said natural gas is a key component in the expansion of renewable energy because it provides reliability at times when renewable energy is not available.

“If we are going to eliminate any natural gas energy generation, or any expansion of it, we are not going to have the ability to meet the energy demands of Arizona residents,” Olson said. “We’ve seen this happen in California.”

SRP didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday. But following Tuesday’s vote, SRP said on its website that it would “continue to evaluate what generation and market options to pursue in the near term to address the resource challenge this decision creates for serving our customers with reliable, affordable, sustainable energy.”

Historic Community

Construction of the Coolidge Generating Station was completed in 2011. SRP bought the plant in 2019.

The power plant is near the community of Randolph in unincorporated Pinal County.

Commissioner Anna Tovar noted the historic significance of Randolph, which she described as a Black community founded in the 1920s by people who came from Arkansas and Oklahoma to pick cotton. Because they weren’t allowed to buy property in nearby Coolidge, they settled in Randolph instead.

“I do not believe it is wise to put further pressure on this community to relocate,” Tovar said. “The history is important, and we shouldn’t lose that.”

And even though SRP had made progress in mitigating impacts of the proposed project, Tovar said it wasn’t enough.

“The increase in emissions, when combined with the pre-existing environmental and air quality issues, will result in an unacceptable total environment for the Randolph community,” she said.

Reaction from environmental groups to the commission’s vote was positive.

Adam Stafford with Western Resource Advocates called the decision “a win for climate action and environmental justice in Arizona.”

“It’s time for SRP to find clean alternatives and revisit its sustainability goals to adopt mass-based emissions reduction targets in line with what scientists say is needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change,” said Stafford, who is WRA’s managing senior staff attorney in Arizona.

Ellen Zuckerman with the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project also applauded the decision.

“At a time when far too many Arizonans are making painful economic decisions and falling behind on their bills, we simply cannot rubber-stamp $1 billion for improperly rushed and poorly vetted projects.” Zuckerman said in a statement.