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ACC approves UArizona-TEP plan to power campus with 100% clean energy

Solar Panels UA
Posted at 5:00 PM, Dec 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-11 00:34:34-05

TUCSON, Ariz. — A plan is set to power the University of Arizona with 100% clean energy after a vote from the Arizona Corporation Commission Tuesday.

All five commissioners voted to approve a project between UArizona and Tucson Electric Power at its meeting Tuesday afternoon. The ACC oversees Arizona's electric power industry.

The vote clears a major hurdle for the plan first announced in August.

Under the agreement, TEP would provide UArizona with greenhouse gas emissions-free power from two renewable energy projects, the university said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. The first is a wind farm in New Mexico, and the second is a "solar-plus-storage" system southeast of Tucson. Both are expected to begin service in late 2020, UArizona said.

UArizona says the plan is largest renewable energy project in Arizona between a university and a utility company.