Lea Márquez Peterson
Commissioner

Policy Statement on Clean Energy

Supporting 100% Zero-Emission Energy by 2050 as an Overarching Goal for Rate-Regulated Investor-Owned Electric Utilities in Arizona

WHEREAS rate-regulated investor-owned electric utilities in Arizona should strive to achieve 100 percent zero-emission energy when cost-effective for customers and safe and reliable for the grid; and 

WHEREAS the path to achieve 100 percent zero-emission energy should be guided by integrated resource planning and all-source requests for proposals; NOW THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that I embrace a clean energy transition, encourage the pursuit of voluntary emission reduction commitments of rate-regulated investor-owned electric utilities in Arizona, and support the overarching goal to achieve 100 percent zero-emission energy by 2050, so long as the steps taken in furtherance of achieving this goal result in investments that are safe and reliable for the grid and affordable for customers

Lea Márquez Peterson

Chairwoman

Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson on October 4^th, 2022 held a Second Annual Supplier Diversity Summit to hear presentations from regulated utilities on their supplier and corporate board diversity programs. 

The Summit also featured a Business Expo to allow diverse owners of small businesses such as minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned to network with representatives of the electric, water, gas, railroad and telecommunications industry. 

The Summit was held in-person and virtually to allow hybrid attendance for presenters and small business owners. The Business Expo was held in-person at the ACC building in Downtown Phoenix. To view the recording of the presentations please visit azcc.gov/live.

"We were thrilled to host the Second Annual Supplier Diversity Summit at the Arizona Corporation Commission to hear how regulated utilities have been making progress on their efforts to diversify their corporate vendors and suppliers. It is important that we monitor the procurement efforts of our regulated utilities to ensure that they are reaching out to business owners that are representative of our broader population."

"We partnered with local chambers of commerce and trade organizations from across the state to ensure that Arizona’s businesses are involved in the conversation. Our partners for the event included Arizona MDBA Business Center, Arizona Minority Contractors Assoc, Tucson Hispanic Chamber, Black Chamber of Arizona, NAWBO Tucson, NAWBO Phoenix, Marana Chamber, Springerville-Eager Chamber, Greater Phoenix Chamber and, of course, Hispanics in Energy."

"As chairwoman of the Arizona Corporation Commission and the first Latina to hold statewide office in Arizona, I host this annual event as a way to learn what our utilities are doing to ensure diversity considerations are included in their supplier procurement programs, as well as how they are improving year over year. This year we heard from 14 different utilities that operate in Arizona, each making progress on tracking and building out their supplier diversity initiatives."

"It is so important as a regulator to support minority, veteran, and women-owned businesses in Arizona and ensure that the utilities that operate in our state are being intentional about supporting these critical businesses that help keep our economy thriving."

Please review our Supplier Diversity dashboard to review the data provided by our largest utilities on their diversity procurement program and board diversity metrics. 

2022 Supplier Diversity Data