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At face value: What is Prop 127?

Posted at 7:07 PM, Oct 10, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-10 23:30:07-04

It's hard to hear through the noise about Prop 127.

There are so many accusations and confusion. At face value, if it passes, it would amend Arizona's state constitution and require utility companies to get 50-percent of the power it sells to you from renewable sources like solar, wind and biomass.

The utilities would have to meet the standard by the year 2030. 

But how the utility companies recoup the money they spend to meet the standards can get complicated.

"That's the problem," said Andy Tobin, an Arizona Corporation Commissioner. "We've never had the constitutional amendment in our constitution that we've all sworn to uphold - to tell us what the generations will be."
 
Tobin says at this point, the way Prop 127 is being presented, it's not clear who regulates how much a utility can charge its customers to recoup the money.

"That sends a signal to me that the commission is not in control of the pricing. There's only one place to get recovery from and so that recovery is coming from our ratepayers."

If Prop 127 fails, it would leave the state's existing renewable energy requirement in place, requiring utilities to get 15-percent of its power from a renewable source by 2025.