Attention SRP Customers: Vote for the Valley’s clean energy future

The future of clean energy in Arizona might be looking brighter come April, as five new candidates are running for seats on the SRP Board of Directors in the current election which ends on April 3, 2018.

The SRP Board of Directors is the governing body for SRP that sets customers’ electricity rates and determines SRP’s water and electric policies. The new “SRP Clean Energy” candidates want to ensure a sustainable, clean, and transparent future for the utility company’s customers and the rest of the Valley.
 
The candidates include Corey Hawkey (Seat 12), Randy Miller (Seat 14), Dennis Burke (Seat 6), Jeff Grout (Seat 8), and Sheila Motomatsu (Seat 10). Each candidate has unique knowledge and experience when it comes to energy, engineering, sustainability, and what it means to create and consume energy in today’s climate.
 
The team says it wants to embrace clean energy where SRP has failed. In 2015, the existing SRP board of Directors approved a rate plan that eliminated the return on investment for potential and existing solar customers, ultimately limiting the choice and incentive to choose this renewable form of clean energy. After the board passed the rate change, SRP received 50 percent fewer applications for solar installations just within the first year. Since then, solar installations in SRP neighborhoods have decreased by 80 percent.
 
The candidates also aim to increase the amount of clean energy that SRP uses to create its own power. Currently, SRP only generates less than one percent of its power from solar (in a state where the sun shines over 80 percent of the year).
 
The five SRP Clean Energy candidates are dedicated to keeping utility rates low, restoring the return on investment for rooftop solar, increasing SRP’s utility owned solar power, managing water resources sustainably, and serving the best interests of voters.
 
Electing these five candidates can create meaningful impact – voters successfully elected two clean energy candidates to the board last election, and adding these new candidates would split the board 7/14 (7 members advocating for clean energy out of 14 members total).
 
Customers who receive a monthly bill from SRP and own their home or other property within the SRP area are eligible to vote in the election. Only residential customers can vote, and APS customers who live in the SRP district may also vote in the election (even if they do not have SRP power service). In order to vote, you must request a ballot from SRP. You must request your ballot by March 23 and mail it back by March 26. Click here to request a ballot and for more information.