An Important Public Service Announcement
ACC vs ACC
One ACC produces the most exciting basketball you've ever seen.
The other ACC decides whether you can afford to run your air conditioner
in 115-degree Phoenix heat.
Both are called the ACC. Only one of them is affecting your life right now.
this is completely fine ↓
Atlantic Coast Conference
The fun one. Founded in 1953. Home to Duke, UNC, Clemson, and Miami. Legendary basketball. Iconic rivalries. Devastating buzzer-beaters. Zero involvement in your utility infrastructure. You have watched many games. You have strong opinions about this ACC. You are not being asked to think about this ACC today.
Arizona Corporation Commission
The other one. Five elected commissioners who quietly decide how much you pay for electricity, whether Arizona builds solar or gas plants, and how dirty the air gets. You have probably never heard of this ACC. This is the one we need to talk about.
Chapter One
The ACC You Already Know and Love
It's March. You're watching a buzzer-beater in Cameron Indoor. You're arguing about Zion with someone at a bar. You know what the ACC is. You're good. There is truly nothing to learn here.
Member schools, every single one of them east of the Mississippi
Year founded. A long and storied history of not raising your bills.
Times this ACC has raised your electric bill. Not once. Not ever.
Chapter Two
The ACC That Is Quietly Running Arizona
Now. The other one. The Arizona Corporation Commission. Five people — just five — elected statewide, who now make decisions that affect every Arizonan who pays a utility bill, breathes outside, or has ever wanted to not melt in August.
You probably didn't know this body existed. That is okay. It was apparently designed to stay that way.
What Does This Body Actually Do?
Four Things That Affect Your Life.
One Body You've Never Heard Of.
For a group almost nobody can name, they have a remarkable amount of power over things Arizonans care about every single day.
Your Electric Bill
The ACC approves — or rejects — every rate increase request from Arizona's investor-owned utilities, like APS and Tucson Electric Power. Those utilities are monopolies. You cannot switch. Whatever the ACC approves, you pay. Arizona's electric rates have risen every single year for over a decade. The ACC approved every one of those increases. They are, technically, working on your behalf.
Clean Energy
Arizona has more sunshine than almost anywhere on Earth. Solar power is now cheaper than gas. The ACC decides whether Arizona actually uses that advantage — or keeps burning imported natural gas instead. In recent years, the ACC has blocked community solar programs, cut solar incentives, and rolled back clean energy requirements. The sun is still out there. The ACC decides whether we use it.
The Air You Breathe
When the ACC approves gas plants instead of solar farms, those plants burn fuel and produce emissions. Phoenix already ranks 5th worst in the country for ozone pollution — per the American Lung Association. Every decision to build more gas infrastructure is a decision about what Arizonans breathe every morning when they walk outside.
Surviving Summer
Phoenix regularly hits 115°F. Air conditioning is not a lifestyle choice here — it is a medical necessity. When the ACC allows electric bills to climb year after year, the people who suffer most are those who can least afford it. Elderly residents, low-income families, people choosing between groceries and keeping the AC on. This body has enormous power over whether Arizona summers are survivable for everyone — not just people who can absorb the bill without thinking about it.
An Honest Assessment
So… How's It Going?
"Electric rates have risen every year for over a decade. Solar is cheaper than gas. Arizona is one of the sunniest places on Earth. We're still 42% natural gas. Perfectly normal."
— A fair summary of the situationArizona sits on one of the richest solar resources on the planet. The economics are simple: solar is cheaper than gas, uses 140 times less water, and does not require importing fuel from other states. And yet: 42% of Arizona's electricity still comes from natural gas — gas Arizona has to buy from elsewhere.
The ACC has, in recent years, rolled back renewable energy requirements, blocked programs that let communities share solar, increased fixed fees on rooftop solar owners, and reduced how much solar customers get paid when they sell power back to the grid. Their stated mission is "safe, reliable, and affordable utility services." The word affordable is doing a lot of heavy lifting with very little results.
Meanwhile, the other ACC — the one with the basketball — just produced another projected lottery pick. They are, by all accounts, thriving. Nobody is mad at them.
Consecutive years of rising electric rates in Arizona
Of Arizona electricity still generated from natural gas
Worst ozone pollution ranking for Phoenix-Mesa in the U.S.
Votes needed for a majority. That's all it takes.
For Reference
Side by Side,
As Nature Intended
| Atlantic Coast Conference | Arizona Corp. Commission | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | College sports league. Very exciting. | Elected state regulatory body. Less exciting. Far more consequential. |
| Members | 18 universities with very loud fans | 5 elected commissioners. Three = majority. That's the whole thing. |
| Based where | North Carolina | Phoenix — allegedly working on your behalf |
| Controls your AC bill | No. Not even a little. | Yes. Directly. Has raised it annually for 10+ years. |
| Arizona air quality | Not their problem | Technically their whole job. Results are mixed. |
| Arizona's 300+ days of sun | Irrelevant to them | Their biggest untapped opportunity. Largely untapped. |
| Famous for | March Madness. Rivalries. Buzzer-beaters. | Rate hikes. Blocking solar. Running Arizona's energy future with very low public awareness. |
| Your awareness of them | High. You have bracket opinions. | Low. This is, arguably, a problem. |
The Bottom Line
You've Been Tracking the Wrong ACC.
The sports ACC will be fine. They always are.
The Arizona ACC — the one that controls your electric bill, your air quality,
whether Arizona actually uses its sunshine, and whether your August utility bill
is survivable — is five people elected in races so low-turnout that your vote
has an outsized impact.
Same energy you bring to March Madness. Different bracket.