Arizona and the nation face surging energy demand. AI, data centers, domestic reshoring, and economic growth are stretching our grid. Advanced nuclear reactors are ready to deliver the clean, reliable, and abundant power we need. But regulatory red tape and excessive public process threaten to stand in the way.

°Õ´Ç»å²¹²â’s permitting system too often prioritizes procedure over outcomes, adding unnecessary steps that slow progress and derail major projects. Public input is essential, but the effort to democratize the process has gone too far. A vocal minority with no capital invested in a project can now block even the most widely supported proposals, weaponizing public comments, exploiting environmental reviews, and abusing land use appeals to drive up costs and deny critical permits.

No energy source is immune.

In Massachusetts, just a few dozen affluent homeowners derailed a major offshore wind project, Cape Wind, by filing 26 lawsuits and fighting it for nearly 16 years. Though they publicly supported renewable energy, they opposed this project because it threatened their property values and views, placing personal interests above their stated cause and exhausting every avenue until the project collapsed.

In Tennessee, residents who generally support fossil fuels opposed a new coal-fired power plant that the Tennessee Valley Authority proposed to meet rising demand. They mobilized against it and used local permitting objections to slow the project in the very community it was meant to serve.

Arizona has seen the same abuse. In southern Arizona, a small group of residents who otherwise support renewable energy repeatedly used the public process to delay SunZia, a critical high-voltage transmission line needed to deliver renewable power from New Mexico. For more than seven years, local activists opposed the clean energy project to stop it from being built in their backyards.

In Mohave County, NIMBYism cut across both energy types. First, residents demanded a countywide moratorium on new solar development. Then, when the local electric cooperative proposed a natural gas expansion to meet growing demand, many of the same residents turned against that project as well, flooding the planning and zoning process with protests and forcing the utility to find a new site.

This is why we struggle to build in America. What began as a good-faith effort to democratize permitting has devolved into endless procedural abuse. It no longer serves a modern economy. These objections are often less about environmental protection or responsible development than about protecting personal interests and stopping projects altogether, raising risks for developers while weakening our national economy and security.

Nowhere is that risk greater than with new nuclear reactors.

According to senior officials at the U.S. Department of Energy, the nuclear sector must navigate more regulatory steps than any other energy infrastructure sector in the nation, with at least 14 points of public input across federal, state, and local levels combined.

At the federal level, these include hearings, comment periods, challenges, and appeals on NEPA environmental impact statements, Nuclear Regulatory Commission license applications, and site suitability reviews for nuclear waste storage.

At the state level, they include hearings, interventions, and appeals before the Arizona Power Plant & Transmission Line Siting Committee, Corporation Commission, and Department of Environmental Quality for certificates of environmental compatibility and air and water quality permits.

At the local level, they include hearings, comments, and appeals involving decisions by planning and zoning commissions, boards of supervisors, and city councils on rezonings, special use permits, or general plan amendments.

Each step creates another opportunity for delay, opening the door to self-interested property owners, outside special-interest groups, anti-competitive business rivals, and even hostile foreign adversaries to block critical projects by adding time, cost, and legal risk, including nuclear projects that most Americans support.

Recent events show how steep the climb already is. When Arizona’s three largest electric utilities announced plans to explore a new nuclear plant, residents protested outside Tucson Electric Power’s headquarters, and that was before a site had even been selected.

Thoughtful public comment remains essential and can improve a project’s design or location. But providing endless points for delay and opposition is neither constructive nor democratic. It wastes time and does more to stall or kill projects than improve them. Given that advanced reactors are safer and smaller than older designs, the current process already offers more opportunities for public participation than most projects reasonably require.

If we want to usher in a new era of energy abundance, unleash economic prosperity, restore domestic manufacturing, and win the AI arms race against China, we must support rapid deployment of advanced nuclear technology and reevaluate the permitting system that now threatens American economic power and leadership.

As leaders, our goal should be simple: Everyone should have a voice, but no one should have a veto. Arizona can preserve democratic process while delivering decisive nuclear deployment. It’s time to support advanced reactors and eliminate the endless proceduralism standing in the way of America’s clean, prosperous, and abundant energy future.

Michael Carbone is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing Legislative District 25 and serves as House Majority Leader. Follow him on X at @MichaelCarbone.

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Amid ongoing concerns about the Colorado River, it is understandable that Arizonans would ask hard questions about water use from new industries, including data centers. Under different scenarios, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District has estimated reductions between 20 and 57 percent to municipal water entitlements, which could require some cities to rely on alternative supplies or banked water savings reserves.

But the fear of shortages shouldn’t stop state and local officials from viewing growth in context with the broader water picture. Our state has some of the toughest water laws in the nation. Arizona’s water managers are among the best in the country, and remarkably, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ses less water today than it did in the 1950s, despite a population that has grown sevenfold and an economy that has expanded dramatically.

That record should give us confidence, not fear.

Given our strong track record for conservation, Arizona should continue welcoming responsible businesses, especially those with a demonstrated commitment to water conservation and stewardship. That includes data centers, which are becoming as essential to modern life as power lines, water systems, and fiber-optic networks.

Just as important, many modern data centers are being designed with water efficiency in mind.

Many hyperscale facilities use closed-loop cooling systems that require a one-time initial water fill and then use only minimal additional water beyond domestic needs. Others rely on dry cooling or similarly advanced methods that greatly reduce or eliminate traditional evaporative water use.

Arizona is already seeing this shift in practice.

CyrusOne uses air cooling and a closed-loop system at its Chandler campus, which largely eliminates ongoing evaporative water demand after the initial fill.

Google uses advanced dry-cooling technology at its Mesa data center to reduce long-term water use.

Meta uses a closed-loop, multi-pass system at its Mesa facility to recycle and recirculate water before discharge.

These examples make an important point: data center operators are not ignoring Arizona’s water realities. They are adapting to them.

That is not surprising. As the has noted, data centers have strong economic incentives to improve operational efficiency in both energy and water use. Conservation is not just good stewardship. It is also smart business. Data centers also provide critical revenues that are necessary to help fund the next tranche of major water conservation investments.

The construction of new digital infrastructure requires millions of dollars in new capital investment, which translates to assessed value, jobs, and secondary impacts that increase state and local revenues. A single 250 megawatt data center, for example, brings in nearly $45 million in annual real and business property taxes and pays over $15 million in sales taxes on its annual electric bill alone.

Arizona should absolutely position itself to take advantage of this investment and use it to fund the future water infrastructure projects for this state. No additional fees or surcharges are required.

Although the uncertainty on the Colorado River is real, our state’s largest cities and towns have the water they need to accommodate future growth, and they should continue to attract the latest and most cutting-edge industries to our state, especially those like data centers that are adopting the latest technology in water-efficient infrastructure.

Arizona has never succeeded by retreating from the future. Our state has long embraced innovation, growth, and responsible stewardship of limited resources. The next era of economic development will depend on technological infrastructure, and data centers will be part of that future.

Economic growth, technological advancement, and water stewardship do not have to be in conflict. Arizona can and should lead on all three.

Michael Carbone is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing Legislative District 25 and serves as House Majority Leader. Follow him on X at @MichaelCarbone. Justin Wilmeth is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives serving Legislative District 2 in North Phoenix and is Chairman of the House Committee on Artificial Intelligence & Innovation. Follow him on X at @JustinWilmethAZ.

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After World War II, the American West was transformed by a spirit of innovation and ambition. Nowhere was that more evident than in Phoenix. Once a modest desert outpost, the city grew rapidly thanks to breakthroughs in air conditioning, abundant electric power, and the optimism of the Atomic Age.

In 1954, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Lewis Strauss captured that mood when he said, “Our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter.� It was a time when America thought big and viewed nuclear power as a symbol of progress.

That confidence helped give rise to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. Built in the 1980s despite doubts that a nuclear plant could succeed in the desert without a nearby river, Palo Verde turned that challenge into a strength. By using reclaimed wastewater for cooling, Arizona engineers made it a triumph of innovation and, for decades, the largest power producer in the nation. It remains proof that Arizona can turn bold ideas into reality.

That same spirit helped bring semiconductor giants like Motorola and Intel to Arizona, helping earn our state the nickname “Silicon Desert.� Just as Palo Verde proved nuclear energy could thrive in the desert, those companies proved Arizona could become a center for world-class technology and innovation. In this state, advanced energy and advanced industry have long gone hand in hand.

Today, Arizona stands at the front edge of another wave of growth, driven by artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing, and the broader high-tech economy. Our business climate, competitive costs, and skilled workforce have made Arizona a magnet for investment. Companies such as TSMC, Amkor, ON Semiconductor, LG Energy Solution, Microchip Technology, ASM, and NXP have chosen Arizona as the place to invest billions in America’s future.

Their customers have followed. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and other technology leaders need advanced chips to power massive digital infrastructure. Arizona is now one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the country. Companies including CyrusOne, QTS, Digital Realty, and Iron Mountain are expanding here, and Buckeye is planning the largest data center campus west of the Mississippi, a massive $20 billion data campus planned for up to 40 individual data centers and as much as 1.8 gigawatts of power demand.

As energy demand rises, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ust be ready to meet it. That means leading in the next generation of nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors, molten salt reactors, and microreactors, which offer the promise of clean, reliable, abundant power across the economy. Designed to be factory-built and scalable, they can reduce construction times, lower costs, and be deployed where they are needed most. Even technologies first demonstrated decades ago, like molten salt reactors, are drawing renewed interest as the country looks for dependable power sources that can support long-term growth.

That momentum is growing nationwide. In the past year alone, lawmakers in 19 states introduced more than 50 bills to advance new nuclear energy. Major technology companies, including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, have also signed agreements to secure power from advanced reactor projects, and in some cases have invested directly in them.

National support is growing as well. Beginning in 2025, four presidential executive orders were issued to supercharge nuclear development, streamline licensing, encourage innovation, and set a goal of quadrupling America’s nuclear capacity by 2050. Another directive called for an SMR to be operational at a U.S. military base by 2028. That presents a real opportunity for Arizona, home to seven military installations.

Arizona is doing its part. Arizona State University has announced a strategic partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate deployment of microreactors for data centers. The University of Arizona is conducting fusion research. Arizona’s three largest electric utilities are engaged in pre-site selection work for future nuclear development. Private investors, including Arizona Nuclear Ventures, are also backing new nuclear startups.

All of this reflects a simple reality: the public is ready. Polling shows about 72 percent of Americans, along with a majority of Arizonans, support new nuclear energy. That support crosses party lines. The reasons are clear. These technologies promise more reliable power, stronger economic growth, and new high-quality jobs.

Arizona is ready to lead. Palo Verde already showed the country what is possible. With advanced reactors, we can do it again by powering economic growth, strengthening national security, and securing a more reliable energy future.

As President Ronald Reagan said, “We must continue to lead the world in the development and use of safe, clean nuclear energy.�

Phoenix rose with the Atomic Age. Arizona can rise again by embracing the next generation of nuclear energy with the same ingenuity, ambition, and confidence that helped build our state in the first place.

Steve Montenegro is the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives and serves Legislative District 29 in the West Valley, Goodyear, and Surprise. Follow him on X at @SteveMontenegro. Michael Carbone is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing Legislative District 25 and serves as House Majority Leader. Follow him on X at @MichaelCarbone.

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As policymakers look for ways to meet rising energy demands with clean and reliable power, some anti-nuclear advocates argue that new nuclear plants should be dismissed because of historically high upfront costs and past construction delays.

But advanced nuclear technologies like small modular reactors (SMRs) promise to overcome those challenges and deliver clean, reliable, and abundant power through a simple but transformative model: factory-built fabrication, one-time design permits, and modular deployment.

Some traditional nuclear plants have seen major cost overruns. The proposed Marble Hill project in Indiana, for example, rose from $800 million to $2.8 billion before being canceled in 1983, while Vogtle Units 3 and 4 grew from about $14 billion to more than $30 billion and were delivered several years late. But nuclear is hardly unique.

Large, capital-intensive projects of all kinds can run over budget and behind schedule, including wind and solar. Virginia’s Coastal Offshore Wind project grew from $9.8 billion to $10.7 billion because of grid interconnection challenges. Wisconsin’s Koshkonong Solar Energy Center rose from $649 million to more than $900 million because of supply-chain issues and labor constraints. In Arizona, the Solana Generating Station fell three years behind schedule and cost millions more than expected because of construction missteps, equipment failures, and air-quality violations, locking ratepayers into electricity prices four times the market rate.

With nuclear, high costs and delays often stem from new safety requirements imposed after construction is underway and a permitting system that requires each plant to be custom-designed from the ground up, even when the technology is very similar to past projects.

At Vogtle, nearly 200 license amendments forced costly pauses and redesigns. Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station also saw costs increase in the 1980s after new safety requirements were imposed following the Three Mile Island accident. Those circumstances were outside the builders’ control, but they reflect the consequences of a system that treats each project as a one-of-a-kind, standalone facility. That prevents new plants from learning from past mistakes and capturing economies of scale through repetition.

°Õ´Ç»å²¹²â’s new reactors are changing that. Instead of building massive, one-time projects, advanced reactors are pursuing smaller, modular, repeatable designs that can be approved once and deployed again and again without additional permits or redesigns. Once the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission certifies a design, modules can be mass-produced in centralized factories, shipped by truck, rail, or barge, and assembled on-site with far greater speed and predictability.

Developers are already moving in this direction.

Last Energy, which has signed power purchase agreements with industrial off-takers in the UK and Poland, plans to use modular factory fabrication and skid-mounted shipping to achieve roughly 24-month deployment timelines and repeatable cost reductions for its 20 MWe PWR-20 reactor.

Kairos Power, which is backed by Google and the U.S. Department of Energy, plans to use off-site module fabrication and factory-to-site construction methods to lower commercial build risk for its Hermes low-power demonstration reactor and future 140 MWe KP-FHR platform.

NuCube Energy, which is backed by Arizona Nuclear Ventures, plans to use ultra-small factory fabrication and truck-and-rail deployment for its roughly 1 to 20 MWe microreactor platform, allowing rapid field deployment and multi-unit scaling for remote or industrial users.

By standardizing designs, making units smaller, and allowing one-time design certifications, advanced nuclear offers a fundamentally different business model: off-the-shelf, factory-fabricated nuclear plants ready for deployment and able to benefit from the cost efficiencies of serial production. That reduces construction risk, increases delivery speed, and drives the kind of cost declines seen in other industries, where each successive unit becomes faster, cheaper, and more efficient than the last.

Even legacy nuclear showed those gains. Vogtle Unit 4 was completed at roughly 30% lower cost than Unit 3, and Palo Verde’s later units were built more efficiently than the first. Replication-driven cost declines are real, and nuclear is positioned to capture them.

There will be some growing pains. NuScale Power, for example, saw projected costs rise because of construction and supply expenses, ultimately leading to the project’s cancellation. But that reflects the reality of first-of-a-kind deployment, not a structural flaw. Each company is still proving a unique design, and none has yet had the opportunity to fully benefit from the serial factory production that should deliver the economies of scale SMRs promise.

Advanced nuclear is not repeating the mistakes of the past. It is solving them. With modularity at its core, it is positioned to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable power at the scale America needs.

Let’s not allow yesterday’s permitting and construction challenges to stand in the way of tomorrow’s advanced energy solutions. Let’s support small modular reactors and build a reliable, abundant energy future.

Michael Carbone is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing Legislative District 25 and serves as House Majority Leader. Follow him on X at @MichaelCarbone. Michael Way is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives serving Legislative District 15, which includes Mesa and Queen Creek in Maricopa County, and San Tan Valley in Pinal County. Follow him on X at @MichaelWayAZ.

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For generations, Arizona’s firefighters have answered the call, training to run toward danger, not away from it, and preparing for the worst, often with limited resources and information about evolving technologies.

As interest in new advanced nuclear reactors such as small modular reactors, or SMRs, grows, some are beginning to ask whether local fire departments are prepared because SMRs are smaller, more advanced, and could be deployed in more locations?

It’s a fair question. The idea of responding to a nuclear-related incident does raise legitimate questions. Many fire departments, particularly in rural areas, operate with limited budgets, rely on mutual aid agreements, and do not have the advanced hazmat or radiological certifications necessary to respond to a fire at a nuclear site.

Add to that the fact that Arizona has not built a new nuclear plant in more than 40 years, since Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station was constructed in the mid-1980s. Since then, entire generations have come and gone without ever having to think about the rigorous permitting requirements new nuclear plants must undergo to ensure public safety. And outside Maricopa County, most departments have never had to consider it at all.

But the evidence is clear: if a new SMR were sited in a rural county, no firefighter would be expected to walk into an unknown chemical or radiological hazard for which they were not prepared. 

SMRs are not the Cold War-era systems people associate with radioactive release or nuclear fallout. Advanced reactor designs like TerraPower’s Natrium reactor, X-energy’s Xe-100, and Oklo’s Aurora use passive safety features that make them effectively ‘meltdown-proof’ and ‘walk-away safe,’ virtually eliminating the risk of high-pressure explosions and radioactive plumes.

Nuclear facilities are among the most heavily regulated energy infrastructure in the county. Federal law requires every nuclear plant to maintain a fully dedicated, on-site fire brigade capable of handling fire, hazmat and radiological incidents independently.

10 CFR § 50.48 (Fire Protection), for example, requires plants to be equipped to respond to emergencies without relying on local jurisdictions. That’s why Palo Verde has its own on-site fire department with no mutual aid agreements with surrounding jurisdictions. It is not by choice. It is because federal law requires it, and federal law would require the same for new SMRs.

10 CFR Part 100 (Site Criteria) requires reactors to be located far from populated areas, at least 1.333 times the distance from the reactor site to the outer boundary of its low-population zone. Although this zone will be smaller for SMRs because they are inherently safer, locations will still be 3 to 5 miles or more beyond municipal boundaries.

10 CFR 50.47 (Emergency Planning Zone) makes clear that local jurisdictions participate in a purely supplemental off-site role, such as facilitating community coordination, evacuations, or sheltering in the event of an emergency. That demonstrates that local jurisdictions are not expected to enter plant operations or contaminated areas during an event, including for new SMRs.

In short, nuclear energy does not depend on local firefighters to manage complex on-site emergencies. It is designed, regulated and operated to be self-contained.

Arizona has a proven track record with nuclear energy. Palo Verde has safely powered our state for decades while supporting thousands of jobs and contributing billions to the economy.

Now, as we consider the deployment of new energy technologies, we have an opportunity to build on that success. Nuclear plants contribute millions annually in local tax revenue, which provides critical funding for local fire departments, including new fire trucks, upgraded fire stations, and state-of-the-art training facilities. They also provide hundreds of good-paying jobs, including for local fire departments and districts in rural areas.

With these new designs, Arizona’s fire departments and districts are being given an opportunity to benefit. Let’s take advantage of that.

The rules are in place. The technology is safe. And the benefits are real. Let’s move forward with confidence and ensure Arizona remains a leader in powering the future.

Michael Carbone is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing Legislative District 25 and serves as House Majority Leader. Follow him on X at @MichaelCarbone. Representative Walt Blackman is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives serving Legislative District 7 and is Chairman of the House Government Committee. Follow him on X at @BlackmanForAZ.

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As Arizona rises to meet the challenges of a new era of energy demand, driven by the emergence of artificial intelligence and data centers, advanced nuclear reactors promise to provide the clean, reliable, and abundant energy we need to meet new demands around the clock.

Some critics, however, argue that these new reactors should be opposed because they do not operate like fast-ramping natural gas plants, claiming their operating characteristics are too inflexible to respond rapidly to sudden changes in demand. But these arguments misunderstand both the nature of the problem and the reality of modern reactor designs.

What we are experiencing with increased demand is not a peak-demand problem. It is a baseload problem, representing a need to increase the amount of permanent, structural, baseline power generated around the clock. A single large data center, for example, can require anywhere from 50 to 150 megawatts of continuous power, while hyperscale campuses can require several hundred megawatts, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This requires a massive expansion of reliable, always-on energy that runs continuously while retaining the ability to adjust output when needed. Nuclear plants operate at capacity factors typically above 90% and can be called on at any time to meet demand, which is exactly why new nuclear is the ideal resource for this moment. Arizona’s Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, for example, operated at a 100% capacity factor through record-setting heat in 2025, ensuring power was available around the clock without interruption when it was needed most.

Intermittent energy resources like wind and solar, on the other hand, operate at only 20% to 40% capacity factor. Because they are not dispatchable and rely entirely on weather to generate electricity, operators must build three to four times the nameplate capacity needed to meet actual demand. And even with that buildout, renewables still cannot be relied on 24/7 to deliver power when needed.

In addition to baseload power, the next generation of reactors is also being designed to offer increased load-following capabilities and operational flexibility, allowing them to respond dynamically to changes in demand and representing a fundamental shift in the way nuclear reactors operate.

The measure of a generator’s technical maneuverability is whether it can make planned or instructed changes in output quickly, across a wide range, and reliably over time. Open-cycle natural gas plants are typically the benchmark for flexibility, with ramp rates of roughly 8% to 12% per minute, while large thermal units like traditional light-water reactors can typically ramp at only around 1% to 5% per minute.

The challenge with traditional light-water reactors is that they were not designed to ramp up and down quickly, and they face physical limitations that make rapid ramping unsafe or impossible. These reactors are large, high-mass systems with significant thermal inertia, which resists rapid temperature changes and creates risks of material stress and long-term damage. As a result, power adjustments must be gradual.

But this is where the technology is evolving. Unlike traditional reactor designs, many advanced reactors are being engineered specifically for increased flexibility. Smaller cores reduce thermal inertia. Alternative coolants and fuel forms increase operational dexterity. And modern designs incorporate entirely new approaches to delivering power.

TerraPower’s Natrium reactor, backed by Bill Gates, NVIDIA, and the U.S. Department of Energy, for example, is a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor that uses integrated molten salt thermal energy storage to decouple reactor output from electricity generation, allowing stored heat to be dispatched on demand at capacity factors above 90% with ramp rates around 10% to 12% per minute.

Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a 5 MW heat-pipe-cooled microreactor that uses passive heat transfer and direct power conversion to deliver near-instantaneous load-following capability at the electrical interface, achieving capacity factors in the 90% range with effectively immediate ramping response.

General Atomics’ EM² reactor is a 265 MW helium-cooled fast reactor concept that uses a direct Brayton cycle and advanced fuel design to enable rapid within-core maneuverability, achieving capacity factors in the 90% range with projected ramp rates of up to 20% per minute.

Although the grid does not need every resource to behave like a natural gas plant, these new advanced reactors can offer something no previous energy source has: high-capacity-factor baseload power with the flexibility of fast-ramping, load-following plants. And with multi-module configurations allowing units to be stacked to meet larger industrial loads, operators can achieve even greater flexibility by adjusting output in stepwise increments, bringing individual reactors online or offline at different times to follow load dynamically without compromising reliability or efficiency. These are benefits that no weather-dependent renewable energy resource can provide.

Arizona stands at a crossroads. The surge in electricity demand is no longer theoretical. It is happening now. Data centers, advanced manufacturing, and population growth are placing new and sustained pressure on our grid.

Meeting that demand will require reliable, abundant, and responsive energy resources that can provide the baseload power our economy demands, the flexibility our grid requires, and the reliability our future depends on. Advanced nuclear reactors can deliver on all three.

Now is the time to move forward and support the advanced nuclear reactors Arizona needs to lead.

Michael Carbone is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing Legislative District 25 and serves as House Majority Leader. Follow him on X at @MichaelCarbone. Matt Gress is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives serving Legislative District 4 in Phoenix and is Chairman of the House Committee on Education. Follow him on X at @MatthewGress.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week finalized a ruling that shields the Phoenix-Mesa region from a more stringent federal air quality classification, delivering a significant win for Arizona businesses and capping a years-long effort to address a problem the state has long argued it didn’t cause.

The EPA determined that the Phoenix-Mesa area would have met federal ozone standards by its August 2024 deadline but for pollution coming in from outside the United States. Under a provision of the Clean Air Act known as Section 179B, the agency will not reclassify the region from “Moderate” to “Serious” nonattainment.

The distinction matters. A reclassification to “Serious” would have significantly tightened the regulatory screws on businesses — lowering thresholds for major emission sources, increasing offset requirements, and expanding air quality control obligations — all while adding complexity to permitting.

The case for the exemption rested on a straightforward argument backed by years of modeling: Phoenix’s ozone problem is largely not of Phoenix’s making. Independent modeling by both the Maricopa Association of Governments and the EPA found that approximately 80 percent of the ozone in the region comes from natural sources or emission sources outside the nonattainment area, including pollution transported from Mexico and Asia, and wildfire smoke.

MAG, the regional planning agency for metropolitan Phoenix, said it had been advocating for the exemption since the Biden administration. It formally submitted its demonstration to EPA in September 2025, and the Phoenix ruling marks the first time the EPA has used its Section 179B authority since Administrator Lee Zeldin rescinded prior guidance that had made the process difficult for states to navigate.

Danny Seiden, president and CEO of the Arizona Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ of Commerce & Industry, called the outcome long overdue. “For decades, Arizona’s businesses have done everything right,” Seiden said. “They’ve invested in cleaner operations, embraced new technology, and helped cut the region’s air pollution by roughly 70 percent since 1990 — all while our economy and population grew dramatically.”

The National Association of Manufacturers weighed in quickly after the ruling, saying the EPA decision gives Arizona’s manufacturers greater flexibility to grow while advancing environmental stewardship. The NAM also called on Congress to build on the momentum by modernizing the Clean Air Act’s permitting process, noting that manufacturers consistently cite Clean Air Act permits as the most burdensome approval process they face.

said the ruling reflects the agency’s broader approach under Administrator Zeldin. “This action is yet another example of the Trump EPA making sure we are not punishing Americans for emissions from countries that do not have our same environmental standards,” Martucci said.

Under the final determination, the Phoenix-Mesa area remains classified as Moderate nonattainment and is not subject to reclassification requirements or the more burdensome permitting and offset requirements that would have come with a Serious designation. All other existing Moderate area obligations remain in effect.

Seiden said the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ would continue to watch the ruling closely. “We stand ready to vigorously defend this decision against any effort to undo it,” he said.

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Andy Tobin

There has been a lot of interest and focus by Arizona policymakers on the environmental virtues of nuclear energy. They are absolutely right: nuclear power is a clean-energy marvel. As a former Corporation Commissioner, I advocated for nuclear as part of the backbone of our energy grid, alongside natural gas. Nuclear’s reliability is unmatched, and its footprint is impressively small. Our Palo Verde Generating Station is a crown jewel of our grid, providing 27% of our state’s electricity.

However, in the world of energy policy, there isn’t a “silver bullet.” We need “silver buckshot.” We don’t have to choose between nuclear and renewables – we need an energy portfolio that includes both. That keeps prices low for Arizonans and meets our skyrocketing energy demand.

The Power of the Market

For those of us who believe in the power of markets, the best news isn’t found in a government mandate – it’s found in the competitive “All-Source RFP” process used by our major utilities. Today, when Arizona needs new power, we don’t pick winners and losers from the Capitol Mall in Phoenix. We let the market decide.

In these processes, technologies compete. What we are seeing is that renewable projects are winning a seat at the table not because of a mandate, but because they are often the most cost-effective way to protect ratepayers’ wallets while meeting our surging energy demands. By 2027, APS intends to add over 6,000 MW of renewable power, integrated with battery storage. – enough to power 450,000 homes.

One important reason why is that utility-scale renewables can be built now. Despite the need and ongoing work to reform federal permitting, advanced nuclear and small modular reactors take years – or decades – to plan, permit, and build.

In contrast, solar and wind projects can be deployed with incredible speed – often in less than 24 months. By embracing renewables today, we get the immediate “juice” our grid demands, while we work together to build the nuclear backbone of tomorrow.

A Diverse Energy Portfolio

The Arizona Corporation Commission decades-old renewable mandates, citing the fact that these technologies can now stand on their own two feet in a free market. This is a victory for conservative principles. It shows that renewable energy is no longer a liberal project – it is a business project.

Champions of nuclear power are right that it is cleaner than many realize. But let’s also remember that solar and wind provide stable income for rural ranchers, tax revenue for our local schools, and one way to generate power without exhausting our most precious natural resource: water.

Arizona’s energy future demands a diverse approach – “silver buckshot� not a “silver bullet.� More nuclear, more natural gas, and more renewables. My hope is that we can move past the either/or debates and focus on an all-of-the-above strategy that keeps Arizona’s lights on and economy moving at full speed.

Andy Tobin is president and owner of Tobin Business Solutions LLC and director of The Western Way’s Arizona Rural Energy Network. He served as an Arizona Corporation Commissioner from 2016 to 2019 and represented District 1 at the Arizona Legislature from 2007 to 2015. He served as the speaker of the Arizona House from 2011 to 2014.

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From off-road vehicles built for Arizona’s rugged terrain to partnerships that support small businesses, public safety, and workforce development, Polaris Inc. has established itself as a leader in innovation and outdoor recreation. With a growing presence in the state and an active role in public policy discussions, Polaris continues to shape the future of powersports while investing in the communities it serves. In this Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Member Spotlight, J.R. Burke, senior director of government relations & legal – on-road, shares insights into the company’s operations, policy priorities, and commitment to Arizona.

What is Polaris?

Polaris has spent over 70 years designing, engineering, and manufacturing products that help people do more outside. We were founded in Roseau, Minnesota – a town about 10 minutes from the Canadian border. Since creating our first snowmobile in Roseau in 1954, Polaris has transformed from a regional manufacturer into a global powersports leader. Consistently redefining market segments through relentless innovation, we are best known today for our off‑road vehicles, snowmobiles, and marine brands. From the Polaris RANGER and RZR, to our other leading brands like the Polaris Slingshot and Bennington pontoons, our products are fan-favorites. At our core, Polaris is focused on building high-quality products that meet real‑world needs while being a strong partner to the communities where we operate.

Can you talk about your areas of focus (off road, on road, marine) and the markets in which you do business?

Polaris operates across three primary segments: off‑road vehicles, on‑road vehicles, and marine. Our off‑road vehicles—including side‑by‑sides and ATVs—are widely used for recreation, agriculture, ranching, land management, and public safety. Snowmobiles remain a strong business for Polaris, and we hold the #2 market share position in the industry. With its bold styling, our Slingshot vehicles offer distinctive three‑wheeled, open‑air on-road experience and are introducing new customers to powersports and Polaris. Through our Polaris Marine segment, we have the #1 pontoon brand in the market with Bennington pontoons, as well as Hurricane deck boats and Godfrey pontoons.

What makes Arizona a great place for Polaris to do business?

Arizona’s vast public lands and diverse outdoor landscapes offer exceptional opportunities for recreation. Polaris’ powersports products are uniquely built to meet the needs of Arizonans—whether their adventures take them onto trails, along the state’s scenic highways, or out on the water. Our network of independent dealer partners across Arizona play a critical role in bringing these experiences to life for our customers. In our work at the Capitol over the past several years, we’ve consistently met with legislators who share our commitment to supporting small businesses and manufacturers like Polaris. Their partnership helps ensure we can continue delivering the innovative products our customers expect.

Are there any policy priorities you’re focusing on in Arizona?

Polaris supports policies that encourage economic growth, protect access to public lands, and provide regulatory clarity for manufacturers and consumers alike. As a manufacturer representative on the Arizona OHV Study Committee, we have focused efforts to create policies that create safe experiences for motorized and non-motorized recreants on public lands and to modernize Arizona’s OHV laws to reflect advances in vehicle design that our customers expect. We value the working collaborations we’ve been able to establish with lawmakers and stakeholders alike to provide industry insight and support balanced solutions.

Do you partner with vocational/technical programs and higher education to hire talent?

Yes, Polaris actively partners with nonprofits, technical and higher‑education institutions to help build the next generation of skilled workers, both at Polaris and within our dealer network. These partnerships focus on manufacturing, engineering, skilled trades, and dealer service technicians—areas critical to long‑term economic growth and the future of the powersports industry. We support internship programs, curriculum alignment, and hands‑on learning opportunities that connect students directly to career pathways. For example, in 2025 Polaris invested $80,000 in our S.T.E.P. scholarships program to help support the next generation of powersports technicians. Additionally, more than 1,000 students across 45 schools also received free access to Polaris eLearning focused on the maintenance of Polaris vehicles. 

How do some of your products support the farm and agriculture industry?

Many farmers and ranchers trust Polaris off-road vehicles as essential tools for daily operations. Our side‑by‑side vehicles are used for hauling, fencing, irrigation checks, livestock management, and general property maintenance. These vehicles are designed to be durable, reliable, and adaptable to tough working conditions, qualities that are critical for customers who count on their vehicle to help them get the job done. Polaris products help them be more productive while reducing physical strain and time spent on manual tasks. Supporting the farm and agricultural community is a natural extension for Polaris. In fact, last year we ran our Ag Advantage program, a promotional offer that was available only to farmers and ranchers as our way to show our support for this hard-working community. We will continue to look for ways to show our appreciation for them.

Can you talk about your defense and government vehicles, as well as your partnership with the federal government?

Polaris has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Defense and other state and federal agencies to deliver platforms used in border patrol, police, fire and rescue calls, disaster response, and worldwide supporting our military. We design and manufacture the most capable light tactical military vehicles available today with technology development and insertion for the battlefield of tomorrow. Our military vehicles have become force multipliers for expeditionary forces. Polaris is proud to have a dedicated Defense business that can leverage everything Polaris has to offer – for military forces worldwide. Almost half of the team are vets – ranging from elite special forces, helicopter pilots and military maintainers. Outside of our Defense business, our Government team is a trusted partner of many federal, state, and local government organizations, providing the most complete lineup of side-by-sides for public safety uses.

How does Polaris engage with the community?

Community engagement is an important part of how Polaris operates, particularly around responsible riding and helping to take care of the places our vehicles are used. We partner with local organizations, riding clubs, our dealers, and non-profits, like the National Forest Foundation, on projects such as responsible riding education, trail maintenance and improvements, and environmental stewardship initiatives. In Arizona alone, Polaris has donated over $125,000 through these types of programs. For example, last year, in partnership with the National Forest Foundation, we helped improve navigation, promote responsible riding, and helping protect natural resources through the production and installation of new signage in the Coconino National Forest and we have some more exciting projects coming up in Arizona later this year. These efforts help ensure public lands remain accessible, safe, and sustainable for multiple uses. Our approach is grounded in being a good neighbor and a long‑term community partner.

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In 2019, The Nature Conservancy published a study concluding that global nuclear generation would likely need to triple by 2050 to meet clean energy goals—demonstrating that experts knew a substantial increase in nuclear power would be necessary even before the emergence of artificial intelligence and its associated energy demand.

The simple reality was that renewable energy resources like wind and solar alone could not provide the reliable power needed to sustain modern economies, even as load growth was flattening or declining in some areas.

Yet at the time, investments in nuclear energy had stagnated. Without growth in demand, there was little incentive to finance new technologies, and few could predict where the next wave of demand would come from—causing some to shift the debate toward reducing consumption rather than improving the technologies needed for modern society.

Today, however, we know exactly where the demand is coming from. As new data centers appear across the country, electricity demand is surging for the first time in decades—creating one of the most rapid increases in U.S. history. A single hyperscale data center, for example, can require 100 megawatts (MW) of power or more, leading experts to predict double-digit increases in demand over the next decade and requiring more power plants to be built faster than many utilities can deliver.

Critics argue this surge in demand will undermine climate goals, but the evidence suggests the opposite. While some facilities are relying on natural gas initially to meet short-term demand, the long-term trajectory is for them to be powered by clean energy.

In fact, the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure may become the greatest catalyst for achieving global clean energy goals since the dawn of the nuclear age.

As demand soars, large technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are turning to nuclear to deliver the safe, clean, and around-the-clock power they need to operate their data centers at scale—helping not only restart legacy plants like Three Mile Island, but also finance a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors called small modular reactors (SMRs), which can provide the clean, reliable, and abundant electricity needed to meet global clean energy goals.

Microsoft has signed an agreement to purchase electricity from Helion Energy’s Orion fusion system (backed by Peter Thiel and OpenAI’s Sam Altman), which uses pulsed magnetic fusion and direct electricity conversion to generate power without water, to power its data centers in Washington State beginning in 2028.

Google has partnered with Kairos Power to purchase electricity from the company’s fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactors to supply carbon-free power for its Tennessee data centers beginning in the early 2030s.

Meta has entered into an agreement to purchase 2.8 gigawatts of carbon-free baseload power from eight Natrium reactors developed by TerraPower (founded by Bill Gates and backed by a $650 million investment that included Nvidia) to power its data center clusters in Wyoming beginning in 2032.

Amazon has invested $700 million in X-energy to deploy 960 megawatts of nuclear capacity from the company’s Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactors to support its data centers in Washington State.

Switch has partnered with Oklo (whose investors include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman) to deploy up to 12 gigawatts of Aurora microreactors at future data center campuses across Nevada and Texas.

One cannot deny the role today’s AI developers are playing in advancing the most sophisticated clean energy technology we have ever developed—flowing capital not only into their data centers, but also into the exact nuclear energy technologies needed to achieve deep decarbonization. Without this investment, achieving global clean energy goals would likely be impossible.

As AI infrastructure expands, Arizona officials are taking steps to protect ratepayers. The Arizona Corporation Commission, for example, is requiring data centers to pay their fair share of infrastructure costs, while utilities like APS and SRP are requiring them to front the capital necessary for generation and grid upgrades. These steps prevent cost shifts and ensure speculative projects do not leave residential customers on the hook for stranded costs.

With these protections in place, Arizona is poised to lead in the co-location of SMRs and data centers. The state already ranks second in the nation, after Virginia, for data center development, making it one of the fastest-growing markets in America. With the recent launch of the Arizona Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ of Commerce’s “AZ AIâ€� Leadership Initiative and local investment in nuclear startups like NuCube Energy by Arizona Nuclear Ventures, Arizona could be the ideal location for the next major AI-nuclear partnership.

The reality is increasingly clear: Artificial intelligence may be the clean energy catalyst we never expected. Without the surge in electricity demand from hyperscale data centers, the nuclear renaissance now underway likely would never have occurred, because the massive investment required to fund it would never have materialized. In that sense, demand from artificial intelligence may be doing more to advance clean energy progress than any overtly environmental policy that has come before it.

If we want energy technologies capable of delivering deep decarbonization without sacrificing our modern way of life, we must support the data center infrastructure that makes nuclear investment possible—and welcome these facilities into our states and communities with open arms. If you support clean energy, you must support AI data centers.

Michael Carbone is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing Legislative District 25 and serves as House Majority Leader. Follow him on X at @MichaelCarbone.

Justin Wilmeth is a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives serving Legislative District 2 in North Phoenix and is Chairman of the House Committee on Artificial Intelligence & Innovation. Follow him on X at @JustinWilmethAZ.

Image via Victor Grigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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