MEC Advocates for Members at State Capitol

Every year in January, the MEC Board of Directors and senior management travel hundreds of miles to Phoenix, AZ – our State Capitol – to educate our elected leaders on Mohave Electric Cooperative priorities and challenges.

Nearly all elections result in change, and November’s election said “farewell” to some electeds with long-term historical knowledge of cooperative principles and said “hello” to 22 newcomers. This year marks the 57th session of the Arizona Legislature with both the AZ House and AZ Senate being occupied with a Republican majority.

1 cooperative priority includes advancing a legislative bill that would protect co-ops and other utilities against massive wildfire liability claims, as long as the utilities have taken measures to prevent wildfires from occurring. Insurance falls under controllable expenses for MEC’s budget and limiting bureaucratic legal insurance claims is 1 way we can keep costs low as a not-for-profit utility.

In addition to briefing and educating the AZ Legislature, Mohave Electric met with the Arizona Corporation Commissioners (ACC). The ACC is the state regulatory body that has the constitutional authority to consider several co-op activities such as ratemaking, infrastructure development, and renewable energy programs. The November election resulted in 3 new Commissioners of the 5 total with Republicans holding a 5-0 majority on the Commission.

Cooperatives are self-governed utilities that believe our Board of Directors, being comprised of and elected entirely by other MEC members, are better suited to determine the course of Mohave Electric than folks down in Phoenix. MEC will educate the new Commissioners on the importance of maintaining this flexibility and work with all Commissioners to reduce regulatory lag, increase efficiencies, and streamline approvals and reporting.

MEC will also be participating in a D.C. advocacy trip in April to meet with several of our U.S. Congressional members and Senators. MEC members can look for the details as well as the outcome of this trip in our summer Currents magazine.

We look forward to working with all our electeds in 2025 and advocating for policies that maintain safe, reliable, and affordable electricity for MEC members.