Arizona lawmakers passed a resolution formally requesting Congress to divest the San Carlos Irrigation Project, a federal utility provider that supplies electricity to thousands across central Arizona.
The Arizona Senate and House of Representatives passed a Senate Concurrent Memorial this week, which sends a formal message to the federal government to divest SCIP, which is run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The utility company serves homes outside tribal lands in central Arizona, including portions of Casa Grande, Florence, and Apache Junction. Customers have dealt with frequent power outages during the hottest parts of the year for years.
State Sen. TJ Shope sponsored the effort that will urge Congress to take action.
"SCIP has been a neglected part of the federal government apparatus for going on decades," Shope said.
This resolution will be sent to the Secretary of State, that will then be sent to Congress.
"This vote makes it clear that it is the belief of the Arizona Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives that this issue should be taken care of in Congress," Shope said.
The frequent power issues are personal for Shope, who says his family has deep ties to the service territory.
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"My Nana lives in south part of Coolidge and is a part of that, that, uh, territory, our our grocery business that my family owned for 75 years. We're one of the large power users in that, in that service territory. So it is something that I grew up with," Shope said.
The resolution is just one step in a long process. It will take an act of Congress to determine who can take over the federal utility provider.
"My message to Washington, DC is that I understand if you don't feel it because you're not physically here, but I invite all of you to come to Arizona in the middle of summer and and come to areas in my backyard that are severely impacted by this every single year, and see if you can survive when it's 115 or 120 degrees outside in the middle of the day without AC," Shope said.
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