Tucson Electric Power

Special Election results for Prop. 412/TEP franchise agreement

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City of Tucson Elections Dept. has posted the special election results for today, May 16 on Prop. 412 re: TEP franchise agreement and surcharges: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/clerks/election-results Yes   28,084    45% No   34,612       55% So this proposition has been defeated, unless there are a large # of provisional ballots yet to be counted, which may … Read more

Tucson Electric Power Donates $100,000 to the Tucson Million Trees Initiative

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November 10, 2021, was another good day in Tucson Mayor Regina Romero’s efforts to steer Tucson toward a cleaner, greener, and sustainable future. Mayor Romero announced that Tucson Electric Power has donated $100,000 towards the Tucson Million Trees Initiative, the program designed to plant one million trees in the city area by 2030. The goals … Read more

How to Vote on Arizona’s 8 Key Ballot Measures

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Print this out for future reference. Mail-in ballots will arrive on Oct. 10
Print this out for future reference. Mail-in ballots will arrive on Oct. 10

Faced with a corrupt State Legislature and Supreme Court, Arizona voters will have the chance to fight back on 8 public initiatives.

Teachers, elected representatives, and a transportation official explained the merits of the ballot initiatives at the recent
Tanque Verde Valley Democratic Club meeting.

Arrayed against voters are dark money interests and self-dealing corporations that are already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to sabotage ballot initiatives to fund public schools, renewable energy, and clean elections.

“I said that this Legislature is owned by dirty money on the state House floor, and I was gaveled down,” says state Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley. “We still have corruption in the state government.”

Echoing these remarks, Luci Messing, the chair of the Tanque Verde Democrats, says, “We have a very corrupt majority in the Legislature who are not looking out for us. We need to take them out. That’s why it’s so important we vote for people who are pro-education, pro-family and will do best for Arizona and not for their pockets or personal gains. It’s definitely one of those issues where we can make a difference. The power is in our hands.”

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Plan to Modernize TEP Power Plant in Tucson will Produce More Air Pollution

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TEP's Sundt generating station on Irvington Road in Tucson.
TEP’s Sundt generating station on Irvington Road on Tucson’s south side.

Tucson Electric Power is proposing to modernize the Sundt Generating Station  at 4120 E Irvington Rd. in Tucson by replacing two 1950’s era steam units with 10 natural gas-fired combustion engines. The purpose of the new engines is to ramp up more quickly and to balance the variability associated with solar and wind energy generation. But all that ramping spouts more pollution into the air than the current steam units.

TEP claims that these units are part of a larger goal for 30% renewable energy by 2030, but gas-fired engines should not be equated with clean, renewable power from wind and solar. The Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine (“RICE”) units are fossil-fuel based generating units that would create significant greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, the project expects to cause an increase in emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter (fine particles PM2.5 and coarse particles PM10) and volatile organic compounds.

Over a third of carbon dioxide emissions in the US are from power plants.

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