Arizona Requires 15 Percent Renewable Power by 2025

November 8, 2006

Arizona regulators approved new rules on November 1st that will require the state's utilities to draw on renewable energy for 15 percent of their electricity supply by 2025. For 2006, utilities must generate 1.25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy resources. The rules also require a growing percentage of the electricity to come from distributed generation systems—residential or non-utility owned installations. The distributed energy requirement starts at 5 percent of the renewable energy supply in 2007 and grows to 30 percent of the renewable power after 2011. The new Renewable Energy Standards replace the state's earlier Environmental Portfolio Standard, which topped out at 1.1 percent renewable power in 2007. In February 2004, the regulators voted to review the rules and consider adopting a more aggressive standard. See the press release from the Arizona Corporation Commission.