FUELING OUR FUTURE
Clean Energy Means Diversified Sources BY HEATHER MACRE
Y
ou cannot have smart water policy without talking about energy. Central Arizona Project (CAP) is the largest single user of electric power in Arizona – it takes a lot of energy to continually pump water across the state. CAP gets more than 90% of its energy from the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), a coal-fired plant near Page, Arizona. CAP operates a 336-mile long canal system that transports 1.5 million acre feet of Colorado River water into Maricopa, Pima and Pinal Counties. The water is used for agriculture, municipalities, industry and to meet federal obligations to Native Americans. I have had the privilege of representing Maricopa County on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD) Board of Directors since 2012. The CAWCD sets policy for the CAP. I initially ran for the Board because I have a background in water law and policy and I was not happy with the board’s lack of transparency and cuts to conservation programs. I also talked a lot about clean energy when I was running for office, and would often get asked why I was talking about energy while hoping to be elected to a water board. After working on the issue for almost four years, I was asked to lead the energy task force to determine CAP’s post-NGS energy portfolio. Our first major decision was that CAP would not be getting any more than 20% of its energy needs from any one source. The task force worked to expand the reach of our transmission lines and to build redundancies to prevent outages. From there, the task force listened to experts from all parts of the energy industry and used that information to draft a request for proposal to meet our base load power needs. We received many bids and used those bids to create a strong, diversified, and affordable base load energy portfolio. I am proud that my task force has made solar a major component of that portfolio and that we signed a contract for some of the most affordable solar energy in the country. We are showing, as Arizona’s largest energy customer, we can rely on solar and set a powerful example for the future of clean energy generation in our state. I hope to increase
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our use of renewable sources over time. While all of this is great news, as a Board member I also have to consider the social cost. CAP does not own any part of NGS, and was not part of the decision to close it. However, we have benefitted from its reliable power output for over 40 years. I believe we have a stewardship obligation to help the communities which have powered CAP’s growth and development. In furtherance of my power task force duties, I also represented CAP on a federal task force that met monthly at the Department of Interior to address the fate of the Navajo and Hopi, post-NGS. We discussed several proposals, including scholarship funds, funding for economic development and tourism, funding for solar or other clean energy generation sources on site, use of the existing NGS transmission, etc. This conversation continues and I support both funding and technical assistance to help the Navajo and Hopi through this transition. In particular, I have continued to try to work with our Native American neighbors to bring solar and clean energy generation to replace NGS. Jobs in the renewable energy sector can offer economic security and opportunity. As a leader of the energy task force, I have been working to make and promote the connections that will facilitate this transition. I am now running for re-election to the CAWCD and, if I am successful I will continue the focus on using clean and renewable energy sources. Though incredible strides have been made, we can't stop now and we cannot leave the people who have served us so well behind. Heather Macre is a partner at the law firm of Aiken Schenk where she has won several major cases. Heather was one of the attorneys who successfully challenged Arizona’s ban on same sex marriage and she also led a suit to overturn a local ordinance adversely impacting survivors of domestic violence. She spends her free time raising money for children in our community through Suns Charities 88 . Heather and her husband Steven are parents to three-yearold Dorothy and two nine-year-old rescue Chihuahua-mixes, Rugby and Lily.
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