Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and the City of Tucson have signed a letter of intent to work toward powering 100 percent of city operations with renewable energy.
The May 5 letter reflects progress made since Susan Gray, TEP’s President and CEO, pledged on Jan. 23 to begin discussions of a clean energy supply agreement with the city. That commitment emerged from discussions about a new franchise agreement between the city and TEP, which has been submitted for approval by city voters as Proposition 412 in a May 16 special election.
Expressing his happiness over the development, Gray said, “We’re proud to help the city achieve its clean energy objectives as part of our own efforts to provide cleaner, less carbon-intensive energy for all of our customers,”.
During negotiations over the franchise proposal, Mayor Regina Romero asked on behalf of city leaders for an agreement similar to TEP’s clean energy supply contract with the University of Arizona. That contract, finalized in 2021, provides the university’s main campus with carbon-free energy from TEP’s Oso Grande Wind Farm in southeast New Mexico and the Wilmot Energy Center solar array near Tucson.
TEP provides service to the city at more than 2,000 locations ranging from office buildings to water wells, adding complexity that would need to be addressed in any such agreement. But both TEP and the City of Tucson are committed to seeing it through.
