Phoenix, Ariz. —   The Arizona Corporation Commission is proud to wrap up 2025 with significant achievements that will enhance the safety and reliability of utility services, support the continued growth of Arizona’s bustling business economy, recover funds for investors that have fallen victim to scam artists, and reinforce critical protections in the state’s railroad and pipeline systems.

Throughout the year, the Commission has listened closely to the public’s feedback and diligently vetted dozens of applications and recommended orders that will enhance the lives of entrepreneurs, investors, and customers, while strengthening key infrastructure that keeps our communities moving forward.

We are proud to share some of our major accomplishments of 2025:  

• The Commission’s actions in 2025 have enabled the construction of approximately 70 miles of new electric transmission lines and enabled the interconnection of more than 6,000 MW of new electricity generation.
• Notably this year, the Commission helped modernize rates for dozens of small water utility companies, many of which have not updated rates for several years, or even decades. For example, Cactus State Water Company consolidated 24 small water systems into two regional groups to make them more efficient, more cost-effective to manage, and produce a more economical ratepayer experience when costly system improvements are needed.  The Commission also approved recovery for some of the improvements for seven of those systems — systems that were non-viable when purchased.  Many of these systems had serious water quality issues or were on the verge of financial collapse. Thanks to Cactus State Water Company stepping up and making substantial investments to vastly improve these failing water systems, thousands of homes and businesses can now be assured that their water is safe and clean.
  

CORPORATIONS DIVISION:

• Oversaw the completion and imminent launch of the new business filing portal, Arizona Business Connect.  Arizona Business Connect (which will replace the current portal, eCorp) will streamline and modernize the customer experience, in addition to providing technologically advanced fraud detection software to better protect business owners.  The process of submitting business filings will be simplified, nearly all business filings will be available online (reducing the need for paper filings), and the new portal will provide an easy and convenient way to track the status of filings.
• Recently, the Commission adopted several anti-fraud policies to enhance security and protect business owners. The Signing Authority Form has provided LLC owners with a simple way to protect their business from fraudulent filings.  The strengthened requirement to show two forms of ID when filing in person has also provided security and protection to businesses. These policies have been implemented for paper filings and will be introduced online in 2026.  In addition to the preceding, the LLC Attestation of Existence is expected to launch in 2026, and early feedback indicates it strikes the right balance between safeguarding businesses and maintaining a simple, non-burdensome process that will combat fraudulent filings on dormant LLCs. The effect of these policies for online filings will not be seen until after the launch of Arizona Business Connect in 2026. 
• In 2025, the Corporations Division, received a total of 126,229 new domestic and foreign LLC formations and processed 594,861 documents.  Arizona is now home to 1,486,665 active domestic and foreign LLCs. 

UTILITIES DIVISION:

• In accordance with the Commission’s decision, formal rulemaking process for revisions to/repeal of the Gas Energy Efficiency, Electric Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy Standards was initiated. Based on information provided by Arizona Public Service Company, Tucson Electric Power Company, and UNS Electric, Inc., collectively, over $2.3 billion has been collected from the REST surcharge since the inception of the REST Rules in 2007 and over $1.16 billion has been collected from the DSM/EE surcharge since the inception of the EE Rules (this includes DSM/EE funds that have been collected through base rates for APS).  For APS, TEP, and UNSE alone, almost $4 billion has been collected from Arizona ratepayers for DSM/EE and REST combined.
  

• Approved the Verizon-Frontier merger settlement, eliminating the need to continue high-cost Arizona Universal Services Funds (AUSF) and related surcharges.  The remaining AUSF funds will be used to support broadband buildout.  In the past, Frontier customers have experienced Intermittent telecommunication outages in parts of northern and eastern Arizona, which on several occasions, have left rural communities without the ability to call 911, and left law enforcement agencies without the ability to dispatch emergency crews.  As part of the merger and settlement, Verizon agreed to use best efforts for broadband expansion to fix 911 and public safety issues, and update infrastructure to address unreliable service.  This will have a significant positive impact for law enforcement and emergency dispatch operations in Navajo and Apache Counties.  Verizon and its Frontier subsidiaries will pursue objective, measurable service improvements and submit a plan to the Commission in 2026 to meaningfully reduce service outages that impair 911 connectivity or emergency dispatch communications.

• Approved Arizona Public Service Company’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) battery pilot program. BYOD is a Demand Side Management program that will allow APS to dispatch participating residential battery systems to provide capacity to the grid.  APS will call up to 60, 1-4hr events per season between May 1^st and October 31^st.  Participating customers will receive an annual $110/kW capacity payment based on the seasonal average kW performance delivered by their individual battery. 

• In 2025, the Utilities Division staff completed 34 rate cases, processed 262 applications, and our consumer services team resolved 1,916 complaints.

SECURITIES DIVISION:

• The Commission hosted the 2025 North American Securities Administrators’ Association Annual Conference. More than 300 securities regulators, and private industry professionals from across three countries attended; many offered highly positive reviews and praised the welcoming environment of Arizona.
• Continues to revise licensing processes to increase efficiencies.  Working with the Department of Public Safety (DPS), licensee applicants nationwide can now electronically provide their fingerprints directly to DPS, with the results sent directly to the ACC. The Division now receives less than 10% of fingerprint cards on paper, significantly cutting application processing times. 
• Participated in nationwide investigations and proceedings with other state securities regulators. In 2025, the Commission approved orders against firms, such as Safeguard Metals, the Vanguard Group and Edwards Jones & Co. The Commission imposed more than $900,000 in penalties against wrongdoers which will go into the state general fund, part of the $34 million the Securities Division generated for the state this year.

HEARING DIVISION:

• Conducted 72 procedural conferences/ prehearings
• Presided over 52 hearings/oral proceedings (re ruling makings)
• representing 72 days of hearing
• Presided over 10 public comment meetings (that were separate from public comment taken during hearings)
• Issued 80 Recommended Opinions, of which 19 were rate cases.
• Issued 2,083 Procedural Orders
• Processed 10,719 eDocket filings
• Opened 257 new dockets
• Docket Control digitized 74,000 images, including decades-old Decisions, which can now be accessed online through eDocket with the Decision number.  Additionally, the Division executed a major cleanup of the eDocket databases, formally closing 2,691 old dockets. 

SAFETY DIVISION:

• The Arizona Office of Pipeline Safety (AZOPS) converted 90% of its inspection forms to digital format, translating to a more efficient and streamlined way for pipeline inspectors to complete their inspection their work, eliminating the need to drive into the office to print and file paperwork. This new process allows managers and supervisors to review paperwork electronically for completeness and compliance with Federal requirements.
• Arizona continues to have the lowest damages per 1000 AZ811 tickets in the nation.  AZ811 is a damage prevention, one-call notification system established to assist excavators in locating all underground electric, gas, water, telephone, sewer, communications or other lines prior to excavation. These results are greatly attributed to the efforts of the AZOPS Staff, along with AZ811 Center and underground facility operators’ diligent outreach to educate excavators on the importance of contacting 811 before any excavation takes place.
• During the first full year of the Railroad Safety Bridge Program, staff evaluated 310 different bridges across the state of Arizona.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIVISION:

• Modernized the way in which Commissioners cast their votes during Open Meetings.  Commissioners had previously conducted a verbal roll call.  The new visual voting enhancement for Open Meetings displays a colored, graphic presentation of voting results in both the Hearing room, and on the livestream video. This gives hearing impaired participants a clear visual on the votes as they occur.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIVISION:

• The Commission worked with the State Legislature to extend authority to implement the new Corporations business filing portal, which will launch January 2026.
• Staff retention and recruiting is now at the highest level in recent years. The ACC had 265 employees at this time in 2024, currently we have 269 employees.  This is significant in that the ACC has been understaffed and would consistently lose employees to better paying opportunities year-to-year.  The Commission is able to not only recruit, but keep staff in part, through salary increases.
• As of December 18, 2025, of the $85.3 million in revenue generated by the ACC, $15.4 million was deposited directly into the State's General Fund and an additional $20.85 million was reverted or transferred to the State's General Fund for the benefit of all of Arizona.

OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL: 

The Office of General Counsel fulfilled its commitment to providing timely, practical, and legally sound advice to support the Commission’s mission, to uphold the rule of law, and maintain public trust in the agency’s work.  This included providing legal support for adjudicatory and litigation proceedings, federal regulatory proceedings and FERC engagement, public records processing and transparency, legal advice and risk management, ethics advice and governance, institutional support for the various Commission divisions, and providing strategic value through reducing risk and litigation exposure, increased public confidence, and community engagement. 

CONCLUSION

The Commission would not be successful without its committed team of about 275 employees who work diligently in carrying out the Commission’s goals in day-to-day operations.  Thanks to the tremendous work and perseverance of the ACC Staff, the agency has implemented several new policies and programs in 2025, and completed major technological upgrades to better serve Arizona residents and businesses. 

Looking forward to 2026, the Commission is committed to increasing Arizona’s energy resilience by overseeing the expansion of current electric and natural gas services, protecting investors through expanded education  campaigns, and continuing to upgrade technologies to improve efficiencies, creating the absolute best customer experiences.