Attorney General Kris Mayes is challenging several recent Arizona Corporation Commission decisions, sparking frustration from a body often considered Arizona’s fourth branch of government.

In the month of March alone, Mayes’ office filed three rehearing requests in three separate commission matters, accusing commissioners of violating state law, ignoring the commission’s own rules or acting contrary to the best interests of utility customers. Mayes’ office has also filed a lawsuit over the commission’s approval of a controversial data center contract and is intervening in two rate cases involving Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power.

APS will no longer cut off customers’ electricity when temperatures spike above 95 degrees, no matter the time of year.

On Wednesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a $7 million settlement agreement with Arizona Public Service over the utility’s account disconnection policies during periods of high heat.

Diane Brown has spent the past four decades advocating for consumers with the Public Interest Research Group. Twenty of those years have been spent in the Grand Canyon state, where she serves as the executive director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group. Brown sat down with the Arizona Capitol Times to chat about her pragmatic approach to policymaking and focus on energy issues.

Temperatures in the Phoenix area climb above 100 degrees 111 days out of the year, on average — some parts of Arizona endure even longer heat seasons. And more than 1 million people in the state work in jobs where they’re regularly exposed to these extreme temperatures, according to an estimate from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The election for the board of the Salt River Project is normally very quiet. It’s an off-cycle election in the middle of April with an archaic voting model that allows only some property owners to even vote.

But it certainly wasn’t quiet this time around.

Today, Governor Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) launched Power AZ, expanding access to critical utility assistance to tens of thousands of Arizona working families statewide. As Arizonans face hotter summers and higher utility costs that pinch family budgets, Governor Hobbs is investing $15 million to provide immediate relief through Power AZ.

Several organizations hosted an extreme heat town hall Tuesday night just weeks after historic heat tore through Southern Arizona.

The event, which was sponsored by groups including Public Citizen, Veterans Power America, the Sierra Club and FUGA Tucson drew local leaders like Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva.

TEP and Arizona Electric Power Cooperative are changing how they collect power by building new solar farms in Cochise County. Combined, the companies are bringing renewable energy to over 90,000 homes across the state.

U.S. Representative Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) and 120 House Democrats this week introduced the Energy Bills Relief Act, legislation aimed at lowering rising energy costs by expanding renewable energy and modernizing the electric grid to meet rising demand.

Arizona’s electricity system is entering a period of rapid change, and the decisions made in the next few years will determine whether the state can maintain affordable, reliable power while continuing to grow. Demand is rising from both population growth and large new industrial users, including data centers. Meeting that demand will require significant investment in generation, transmission and grid infrastructure, all of which will ultimately be paid for by customers.