PINAL COUNTY, AZ — An Arizona congressman has introduced a bill aimed at fixing the unreliable and costly electric service that has frustrated thousands of his constituents for years.
Rep. Eli Crane, a Republican from Arizona, introduced the San Carlos Irrigation Project Divestiture Act of 2026, which seeks to end federal ownership of the San Carlos Irrigation Project's electric system. The project, known as SCIP, is a utility provider run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The legislation seeks to address longstanding reliability and affordability problems facing roughly 10,000 residential customers. The utility serves homes outside tribal lands in central Arizona, including portions of Casa Grande, Florence and Apache Junction.
SCIP has not been able to generate its own power for decades, citing a significant flood event at Coolidge Dam in 1983 that eliminated the hydropower generation facilities. Instead, the utility buys power from the Western Area Power Administration and the Southwest Public Power Agency power pool and re-sell it directly to its customers.
A spokesperson for BIA previously told the ABC15 Investigators that funds are limited for repairs and improvements as they do not have the authority to borrow funds to finance repairs or capital improvements.
Crane's bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer SCIP's electric transmission and distribution system to new operators, following a plan developed with federal, state, tribal, local and private stakeholders. Coolidge Dam and its generating facilities would be excluded from the transfer.
"For decades, career politicians on both sides of the aisle have let this issue linger, and residents have paid the price through routine outages and rising bills. I'm not willing to continue that pattern by waiting for someone else to take action," said Rep. Crane. "My legislation would shift the system to operators who are better equipped to invest in it and serve its customers. While it won't fix everything overnight, it's a critical step toward delivering the dependable electricity these communities need.
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The ABC15 Investigators have covered reliability concerns for years as customers have had frequent power outages, and rising costs.
In September 2025, Crane sent a letter to the Department of the Interior asking the Office of Inspector General to investigate SCIP. According to Crane's office, more than a year later, there have been no meaningful findings, and he drafted this bill with input from customers, Tribal leaders and utility providers.
When Crane called for that investigation, he told ABC15 that SCIP had not been very transparent.
"For us to go forward and find a solution for these people, we need all the information we can get," Crane said.
Crane said he believes the BIA was never meant to be a residential power company, and that divestiture would free SCIP's electric grid from nearly a century of bureaucratic constraints.
