In a unanimous decision during their December 3 meeting, the Arizona Corporation Commission has trimmed down Arizona Public Service Company's (APS) demand-side management budget for 2024, according to details disclosed in a news release on the Arizona Corporation Commission Phoenix Office website.
The Commission ultimately approved a substantial budget cut from $91 million to $40 million, with Chairman Kevin Thompson initiating the amendment, and Vice Chair Nick Myers further influencing the process by nixing additional subsidies. Vice Chair Myers openly challenged the effectiveness and economic rationale behind subsidizing energy efficiency (EE) products, questioning why "mandated and subsidized by other customers" if they are such a boon, as he put it, to those who implement them. Myers argued that if EE measures genuinely save users money, then people should adopt them without financial coaxing from others - and without laying the cost burden on customers who do not benefit directly from these products, as stated by the Arizona Corporation Commission Phoenix Office.
As recorded in the Arizona Corporation Commission Phoenix Office news release, Vice Chair Myers contrasted the cost of residential and non-residential EE programs, which respectively amount to around $441,000 and $493,000 per MW/year, with the 30-year lifecycle costs of natural gas generation builds, including yearly operations and maintenance, estimating these at roughly $45,000-88,000 per MW/year.
Despite his skepticism towards energy efficiency measures Myers verily champions the potential of Virtual Power Plant (VPP) systems; he voiced support for APS to develop a cohesive VPP strategy to unite existing initiatives like the Cool Rewards program and managed EV-charging into "a true grid asset" firmly capable of enhancing reliability and easing ratepayer demands for premature infrastructural investment, Myers' amendment directs APS to further assess and propose enhancements to their VPP initiatives in the upcoming Demand Side Management Implementation Plan, as reported in the Arizona Corporation Commission Phoenix Office announcement.
