Build Back Better's clean energy mandate is a bad deal for Arizona

Progressives in Washington, D.C., are still trying to persuade their Democrat colleagues to pass an enormous budget reconciliation bill, and a controversial set of energy mandates within the package recently took center stage in our nation’s capital.

While some Democrats are trying to sell a California-style clean energy standard as the end-all solution to climate change, these punitive rules and regulations won’t improve the environment, but they would hike energy bills for Arizona businesses and families.

Thankfully, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has made it crystal clear to her colleagues that she is going to stand up for the best interests of Arizonans. She has done the right thing for her constituents in the past, and I urge her to also oppose the oppressive clean energy standard that progressives are trying to slip into the reconciliation bill.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) continues to express concerns over the negative impacts that some provisions of the Build Back Better plan could have on our most vulnerable citizens. He refuses to violate President Joe Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000, which Senator Sinema has also claimed to support.

But Manchin also may be willing to negotiate on the bill’s climate provisions.

Now is the time for Sinema to speak up.

CEPP could cost Arizona customers

The centerpiece of the progressive climate agenda is a new energy mandate and a de facto carbon tax called the Clean Electricity Performance Program, or CEPP, which would pay utility companies that switch quickly from fossil fuels to clean energy and fine those that do not.

This badly written subsidy could increase electricity prices, blackouts and our dependence on solar panels made in China under questionable labor practices. It could lead to windfall profits for the solar and wind industry without necessarily reducing carbon emissions quickly enough, particularly if we must rely on fuels like natural gas in the short term to produce power when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

Unfortunately, the program does little that the free market isn’t already doing to encourage the adoption of clean energy, and the mechanisms baked into the program are set to spike the cost of energy here in Arizona at a time when inflation is already spiraling out of control.

According to a new nonpartisan study, CEPP’s energy requirements and hefty carbon fees would cost Arizona an alarming $119 billion through 2052. That means every Arizona energy customer could expect to see a $1,200 increase in their annual electricity bill if progressives manage to pass their clean energy standard.

Combat climate change, but not like this

Now, I am not saying that we shouldn’t pass policies to combat the effects of climate change – but we need to be smart so that we don’t hamstring our already hobbled economy.

Here in Arizona, utility companies are working diligently to provide clean, reliable and affordable energy for all of our residents.

We do not need the failed energy policies of states like California, which has implemented clean electricity standards that have exacerbated blackouts, threatening public health and the reliability of their grid. Arizonans don’t want and don’t need overly burdensome federal regulations.

Kyrsten Sinema has made a name for herself as a pragmatic politician who’s willing to do what’s right when it comes to partisan power grabs like the CEPP. This energy mandate is bad for Arizona – so we need Senator Sinema and our other elected congressional officials to stop this costly and unproductive regulation.

Rick Gray, a Republican from Sun City, is majority leader in the Arizona Senate and represents Legislative District 21. On Twitter: @RickGray

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Build Back Better's clean energy mandate would cost Arizona