Republicans ignore that solar energy is already cheap and clean. We wouldn't do that

As inflation rises, voters have an opportunity this election to lower costs in one area of their budget – utility bills.

The Arizona Corporation Commission race lacks the attention paid to the governor or other statewide races, but the commission, called the fourth branch of government, directly impacts voters’ everyday life through regulating utility monopolies.

Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy and I are running to ensure utilities invest in proven clean energy resources that protect your wallet. Investing in clean energy also creates local, high-wage jobs that benefit Arizonans while conserving our most precious natural resource: water.

Solar is already the cheapest energy around

Utility fuel costs have increased sharply, largely due to extreme weather events and the war in Ukraine.

You may have noticed; the utilities pass these costs directly onto customers through a bill surcharge. Arizona imports all of our natural gas from Texas and elsewhere, because we don’t have gas resources in our state.

From their opponents: Democrats want clean energy, no matter the cost

Instead, Arizona has abundant sunshine, a clean and free fuel for electricity made from solar generation. Over the past decade, solar costs have dropped exponentially and are now the cheapest form of energy (except for energy efficiency, the best clean resource).

The cost of producing a megawatt-hour of electricity from a new utility-scale solar installation was, in the last 10 years, $28 to $34 per megawatt hour (MWh). Contracts for solar owned by independent power producers were even cheaper, at $20/MWh.

Over the same time period, the same amount of electricity from the cheapest type of natural gas plant ranged from $45 to $74. Historic federal investments in clean energy expected over the next five years will lower the costs of renewable energy even more.

Why rely on expensive, unproven tech?

Distributed solar plus storage, electric vehicles and energy efficiency incentives also offer exciting opportunities to put reliable power back in the hands of utility customers, but Arizona has yet to capitalize fully on these opportunities.

We will focus on rapidly and fairly deploying these resources through ratepayer-owned community solar and similar projects that center on the ratepayer, not the utility shareholder.

Commission candidates debate: Help for coal communities, renewable energy

Meanwhile, our opponents are adamant on encouraging utility investments in costly, unproven micronuclear reactors, a technology not in operation anywhere in the country. They also support continued utility investments in volatile gas plants and increasingly risky hydropower, which is foolhardy given the extended drought and rapidly receding shores of Lake Mead and other reservoirs that provide our hydropower.

The clean energy transition is already underway, and coal plants around the West are closing due to costly maintenance and operations. In fact, the San Juan Generating Station just across the border in New Mexico just ended its 46-year run.

Arizona should move into a clean energy future

The communities whose economies depend upon coal-power plants are already reeling from the closure of the Navajo Generating Station and the Kayenta Mine.

These communities gave their labor, water and land as Phoenix and Tucson grew and prospered from cheap electricity. Now their air is polluted, water supply diminished, and many are left without their own running water or electricity.

The Kuby and Kennedy team believe that these communities, which include the Navajo and Hopi nations, deserve the funding they are requesting from the utility companies to begin a resident-led transition from a coal-based economy to a clean-energy economy that protects the water, air and land while offering good-paying jobs.

Our opponents oppose that, arguing that investments in tribal nations constitute “foreign aid” and describing funding for other coal communities as “bailouts.”

As Arizona races a ticking clock on a rapidly changing climate and dwindling water resources, this election cycle voters have the chance to decide:

• Should the state move into a clean energy transition that can bring incredible benefits to the rural and urban areas of our state?

• Or will we rely on risky, volatile-priced resources like gas or other costly utility investments that increase shareholder profits at the expense of Arizonans’ wallets?

The choice is clear: Lauren Kuby and Sandra Kennedy will protect Arizonans from rising costs – and ensure a clean energy future for our state. Arizona is poised to become the solar capital of the U.S. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us to lead the way.

Lauren Kuby, a Democrat, is a former Tempe City Council member and a Global Futures Scientist, leading the Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family at ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation. Reach her at lauren@kennedykuby.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Corporation Commission race is about cheap, clean energy