Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is appealing the Arizona Corporation Commission’s approval of an energy agreement between Beale Infrastructure and Tucson Electric Power for Beale’s Project Blue data center development near Tucson.
The approval and controversy center around TEP’s agreement to sell Project Blue 286 MW of generating capacity.
Mayes alleges the ACC ceded its constitutional authority in approving the deal that allows TEP and Beale to set energy rates themselves without securing ACC approval.
She wants the Commission to vacate its decision, which it approved in December on a 4-1 vote. She has also requested that ACC re-hear the case with specific instructions to strike what she referred to as “the unlawful abdication of authority” before issuing a final decision.
Mayes announced her intent to challenge the approval in January. She alleged in a news release last week standard ratepayers will be forced to make up costs if large energy customers can secure what she called “sweetheart rates.”
Mayes’s appeal filing highlights a section in the agreement that says rates can only be changed by “mutual agreement” between Beale and TEP. She said the agreement does not identify specific conditions under which the rate can be changed and does not require the ACC to review or approve service under a different rate schedule. She asserts this is an unlawful abdication of the Commission’s authority and duty regarding ratemaking, which she alleges is a violation of the Arizona Constitution. (Source)