Updated July 4, 2026
Save the Scenic Santa Ritas is requesting the Arizona Corporation Commission deny Tucson Electric Power Company’s application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility for the proposed $18 million Santa Rita Connection 138 kV power line extension during its July 8 hearing.
The Arizona Power Plant and Line Siting Committee approved TEP’s application on June 3. The committee’s recommendation has been forwarded to the five-member Corporation Commission for final approval. The ACC meeting agenda includes information on how the public can comment in person or remotely.
Save the Scenic Santa Ritas filed written objections on July 3 requesting the commission deny approval of the CEC. Another 29 private citizens have also filed comments opposing the application.
SSSR said the CEC should be denied because the company did not disclose that TEP and Copper World’s owner, Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals, have agreed to combine Hudbay’s Toro Switchyard, which the ACC approved in 2012, with TEP’s Santa Rita Substation.
The Santa Rita Connection will terminate at the combined Toro Switchyard/Santa Rita Substation which will provide a direct connection to a separate 138 kV power line for the Copper World mine.
State law regulating the issuance of a CEC for transmission lines does not include substations. Switchyards, however, are considered to be part of a transmission line.
TEP did not disclose plans for the combined switchyard/substation in its 1,000-page CEC application. Instead, TEP stated that the Santa Rita Connection would terminate at the Santa Rita Substation.
The Line Siting Committee’s decision to approve the CEC is based on a stand alone substation, rather than a combined switchyard/substation.
“The Project will involve the construction of an approximately 13-to 17-mile 138 kilovolt (“kV”) transmission line to connect TEP’s existing Sonoran Substation in Pima County to TEP’s planned Santa Rita Substation in (Pima) County,” according to the “Project Description” in the CEC approved by the committee.
One of the six Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law included in the CEC approved by the committee states that the Santa Rita Substation is not required to be included in the CEC. The finding, however, states that switchyards are included as part of a transmission line.
“The Project substation is not jurisdictional because the definition of a “transmission line” under A.R.S. § 40-360 (10) only includes “new switchyards to be used therewith,” not substations,” the finding of fact states.
“The fact that switchyards are included under the definition of transmission lines means the Corporation Commission should reject the CEC as approved by the Line Siting Committee and require TEP to resubmit its application and include the Toro Switchyard as part of the Santa Rita Substation,” SSSR Executive Director John Dougherty said.
The public only learned that the switchyard and substation were going to be “collocated” after TEP filed “late exhibits” hours before the May 26 public hearing. SSSR reviewed the exhibits on May 27 and found a March 12 email exchange between the Town of Sahuarita and TEP that indicated the switchyard and substation would be combined.
Subsequent statements by TEP and reporting by the Arizona Daily Star confirmed the Toro Switchyard and the Santa Rita Substation would be combined into a single facility.
“This entire process has been carefully orchestrated by TEP to hide the fact that the primary purpose of the Santa Rita Connection is to provide power to Copper World,” Dougherty said.
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I believe this is a good example of how Hudbay either coerces or intimidates entities to get what they want. Perhaps even providing financial incentives. Tucson City Council and Pima County Board of Supervisors voted NO on Hudbay’s plans for Copper World. The ACC should oppose them as well.