During a Southeast Arizona Economic Development Group luncheon last Wednesday, several speakers provided updates about the organizations they represent.
The presenters included Excelsior Mining Corporation General Manager of Robert Winton, Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona’s new 6th Congressional District, Arizona G&T Cooperatives CEO Patrick Ledger, Commissioner Lea Marquez-Peterson of the Arizona Corporation Commission and Benson Mayor Joe Konrad.
While providing an update about Excelsior, Winton spoke of two copper mining projects the company is working on. One is the Gunnison Copper Project and the other is the Johnson Camp Mine, both near Dragoon in Cochise County.
Winton said these projects are in the works and that he expects to be announcing results to the community by the end of next year.
“In our Gunnison project we will be looking to complete well stimulation trials in the second quarter of 2023,” he said. “The results will lead to further trials, or if successful, could ramp copper production at that site.
“This work requires an amendment to our EPA permit, which is nearing completion. We expect to have it in the coming months.”
Excelsior announced it will be exploring potential heap leaching of sulfide ore, and has partnered with an industry leader to further this project. Preliminary results of this work will be announced throughout 2023.
With Benson as the first stop in his district since being sworn into office on Jan. 7, Ciscomani said he looks forward to working with local officials and stated that his door is always open. Ciscomani vows to follow through on campaign promises while representing the best interests of Arizona’s newly formed 6th district, which extends from Casa Grande to Safford to Sierra Vista and Tucson.
Ledger shared concerns about power reliability problems in different regions across the country and steps G&T is taking to continue providing affordable, reliable power in the face of challenges.
“We have some of the best reliability numbers in the western United States,” Ledger said. “We’re doing everything we can with a lot of old equipment, but at some point we have to start upgrading.”
Those upgrades include transitioning into renewable energy options, a process AzGT has already started.
“The world is changing, regulations are changing and expectations from ratepayers are changing, so we have to start moving in this direction,” Ledger said.
As a member-owned, not-for-profit electric generation and transmission cooperative, Ledger said AzGT’s mission is to provide reliable, affordable power to its member electric cooperatives across the Southwest at affordable rates.
“We’re really focused on what we can do to make sure you have the best possible power for the lowest possible cost,” Ledger said.
In October 2022, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a financing application for additional natural gas-fired generation at AzGT’s Apache Generating Station. Expectations are to bring the gas units online by 2024, with a large renewable energy storage system in 2025.
“We are also looking at a large solar battery project,” Ledger said. “We’re also putting stand-alone utility scale battery projects in some of our member-systems, including Sulphur Springs (Valley Electric Cooperative).”
AzGT is taking a number of steps to incorporate renewable energy as it faces a world of changing regulations, while keeping rate payer costs down.
“We’re not doing it to make more money, or because it’s on the cutting edge,” Ledger said. “We’re doing it because this is the most responsible way and the most reliable way, and frankly, the least costly way to make this transition.”
Marquez-Peterson described the corporation commission’s role in overseeing reliability and affordability utility rates.
“We are a statewide elected board of five,” she said. “We regulate the utility industry, so that’s electricity, water, gas and wastewater. We manage railroad and pipeline safety and we tackle securities fraud.”
As customer liaisons, the commissioners depend on community input when making decisions.
Reliability and resource adequacy concerns across the west are issues the commission examines. In addition to electricity, the commission regulates about 300 water utilities throughout the state, Marquez-Peterson said.
As commissioners wade through electricity transitions from the mix of nuclear, coal, natural gas and the renewable energy that’s coming, Marquez-Peterson said the role of the commission is vetting ideas and looking at plans from various utilities and asking questions.
“I get a lot of the questions that I ask from you,” she said. “We see between 40 and 50 rate cases a year. I urge you to go to the azcc.gov website if you have questions about different issues that you want to follow.”
Konrad is excited about the new homes that Century Complete is building in Benson.
“Last year we ended with 325 building permits, which equates to about $30,972,000 of revenue,” he said. “We’re looking forward to similar numbers this year, so it’s exciting to see all these houses under construction as people move into town.”
He also spoke of improvements to Lions Park, of which one of the priorities is to construct a splash pad for kids.
SAEDG Executive Director George Scott said he is planning the next luncheon sometime in March or April.
