Tucson voters defeated a ballot measure that proposed a new, 25-year city franchise agreement with TEP that would have imposed a new monthly fee on city residents to help fund installation of underground lines as well as climate-action programs.
David Wichner It’s back to the drawing board for Tucson Electric Power Co. and its plan to build a new high-voltage transmission line through midtown Tucson, and city efforts to minimize the line’s impact and boost future city climate-action initiatives.
People are also reading… The city and neighborhood activists want the TEP to install the high-voltage lines underground, but TEP says that would be prohibitively expensive — an estimated 13 times the cost of overhead lines or up to $60 more — and the company wouldn't pay for the difference or seek to increase its state-regulated general rates to pay for the excess cost.
TEP previously had said that if Prop. 412 failed, it would need to spend more than $12 million on stopgap measures to reinforce Midtown’s older, lower-voltage system to help maintain service. Reopening debateMayor Regina Romero and other city council members said they were disappointed with the election outcome but pledged to continue to work on the TEP line and climate-action issues.
As for the climate resiliency measures baked into the agreement, Kozachik said TEP should consider what he sees as a new opportunity with the proposition’s failing “to take a kind of groundbreaking position that is not typical of utilities across the country.” The franchise agreement was likely rejected, Council Member Kevin Dahl said, in part because the city “tried to do too much in having both the undergrounding and climate change on this additional fee.”State regulators recently approved a fuel surcharge increase that will cost TEP home customers an average of about $10 per month for a year, while the utility also has a pending general rate request that would raise home rates 12%.
TEP: Need for new line urgentTEP said the company will continue to operate under its current franchise agreement with the city, which authorizes use of public rights of way for the local energy grid, and will seek a new agreement before the current pact expires in April 2026. The new franchise agreement was backed business groups including the Tucson Metro Chamber, the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and Sun Corridor Inc.
Council Member Nikki Lee also hopes the failure of Proposition 412 provides an opportunity to “come up with an even better solution and a better concept to put on the ballot.”“I felt like we tried really hard to find something that really would address a lot of the interest from the stakeholders and we just missed the mark, apparently,” she said.
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