Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says it is ‘unacceptable’ that thousands of customers in central Arizona are dealing with repeated power outages. Mayes is calling on the federal government to address reliability concerns and assist customers who are impacted.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a letter to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Department of Interior (DOI), the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Regional Director of the Western Regional Office of Indian Affairs, requesting they "take immediate action to address the San Carlos Irrigation Project’s ('SCIP') well-known electric service reliability issues."
In the letter, Mayes implored the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to "take immediate action to address these service interruptions."
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ABC15 began looking into power outages in Central Arizona after hearing from dozens of people by email who expressed frustrations about repeated power outages this summer, which last anywhere from short flickers to more than 20 hours without power.
Mayes' letter cited ABC15's recent reporting from August 22 and September 5 calling attention to "dangerous conditions for SCIP customers."
Mayes sat down with ABC15 on Wednesday and said she has not heard from any federal agencies yet. ABC15 Investigator Nicole Grigg asked what she would do if there is no response.
“We're really sort of in the process of talking about what I'm going to do next,” said Mayes. “We certainly would look at our legal options”
ABC15 also asked if she thinks there would be any potential buyers.
“I actually do think so because we're talking about an area that has about 13,000 customers, so that's a decent chunk of customers,” she said. “I think that the federal government could spin off these assets to one of these larger utility providers that would be willing to invest in the system.”
In Friday's letter, Mayes requested that the Department of the Interior fund and publicize cooling centers, and ice giveaways and provide bill credits to SCIP customers, among other measures meant to "protect SCIP customers while the Department evaluates asset and customer transfers to other electric utilities."
Congressman Ruben Gallego also is calling on the Bureau of Indian Affairs for answers and immediate action. On Thursday, he sent a letter to the BIA asking the agency to improve the reliability of power by building new, duplicate transmission lines and setting up rapid response systems for frequent outages.
"SCIP's lack of reliability is not only inconvenient but during the summer months it is downright dangerous," the letter said.
Along with concerns around the reliability, the Congressman cited the cost, "SCIP's unreliable services are becoming increasingly expensive for the same customers already experiencing the difficulties mentioned above," the letter went on to say, "Since SCIP can no longer produce its own energy, its customers are subject to rates that depend on open market energy prices."
SCIP does not generate its own power because the bureau said they do not have access to enough water to generate hydropower anymore. Instead, they buy power from the Western Area Power Administration and the Southwest Public Power Agency power pool and re-sell it directly to more than 13,000 customers.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Indian Affairs told ABC15 that it believes that other tribes or other non-federal entities or utilities would better serve customers.
In a statement, a spokesperson wrote, “It is BIA’s desire to transfer ownership of the on-reservation facilities to the Gila River Indian Community and the San Carlos Apache Tribe.”
The BIA also has thousands of customers who are not on tribal land.
