Lack of disclosure raises concerns that ratepayers could subsidize mine
SSSR SPECIAL REPORT
Tucson–Save the Scenic Santa Ritas has requested state regulators require Tucson Electric Power Company to provide additional information about its murky plans to provide power to the Copper World mine site through the proposed Santa Rita Connection high-tension power line project.
The $18 million Santa Rita Connection is planned to extend a 138 kV power line from a Tucson substation to Sahuarita and surrounding communities. The line would terminate at the planned Santa Rita Substation southwest of Sahuarita Highlands and north of Quail Creek.
TEP has repeatedly stated the Santa Rita Connection has nothing to do with Copper World but is needed to provide additional electrical power to more than 14,000 customers in Sahuarita and nearby communities.
But TEP’s own records filed last week with a state regulatory agency directly contradict the company’s claim. One email exchange among a batch of exhibits filed on May 26 with the Arizona Power Plant and Line Siting Committee tells a different story.
The emails between the Town of Sahuarita and TEP reveal that TEP and Hudbay plan to jointly construct the power line’s Santa Rita Substation, which would then provide a direct connection to Copper World through a separate 138 kV power line approved in 2012.
Jointly constructing the Santa Rita Substation will allow Copper World’s owner, Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals, to forgo construction of the Toro Switchyard that was planned on property adjacent to where the substation would be built.
“The combination of TEP and Copper World’s facilities into one Santa Rita Substation raises fundamental questions about the necessity of the (Santa Rita Connection) Project and how much TEP ratepayers are subsidizing Copper World,” SSSR’s Executive Director John Dougherty stated in May 28 public comments submitted to the Line Siting Committee.
Copper World would dwarf residential power needs
Copper World will require an enormous amount of electricity, far more than what is typically used by 14,000 residential customers.
Hudbay states in a 2023 technical report that Copper World will have an operating capacity of 138 MW. This is enough power to supply between 14,000 and 25,000 homes at peak demand and can support 68,000 to 92,000 homes based on average demand.
TEP did not provide the Line Siting Committee with information on how much power Copper World will use compared with residential customers. Regulators often require utilities to submit an independent System Impact Study to analyze the effects on the bulk transmission system from a major addition to the grid such as Copper World.
TEP instead relied on internal planning documents that tested a potential failure of two other power lines serving customers in Sahuarita and surrounding communities to justify the need for the Santa Rita Connection.
“The combination of TEP and Copper World’s facilities into one Santa Rita Substation raises fundamental questions about the necessity of the (Santa Rita Connection) Project and how much TEP ratepayers are subsidizing Copper World.”
John Dougherty, SSSR Executive Director
The Line Siting Committee must approve TEP’s application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility before the application can be sent to the Arizona Corporation Commission for final approval.
TEP appears to have relied on a legal loophole to avoid publicly disclosing that it plans to jointly build the Santa Rita Substation with Hudbay. The state law regulating construction of high-tension power lines “does not include structures located on the substation, switchyard or generating site to which the line connects.”
Hudbay was planning to construct the Toro Switchyard on land it owns near the intersection of South Country Club and Corto roads. The switchyard was planned to connect to TEP’s grid, however there was a never an approved plan on how that would happen.
In 2012, the mine’s previous owner, Augusta Resource, obtained state permission to connect a 138 kV power line from the Toro Switchyard to what was then known as the Rosemont Mine. Hudbay purchased Rosemont from Augusta in 2014 and changed the name from Rosemont to Copper World in 2022.
TEP subsequently leased Arizona State Trust Land immediately east of the Toro Switchyard site. TEP and Hudbay now plan to construct the Santa Rita Substation on the State Trust Land.
Sahuarita deflects attention from Copper World
The Town of Sahuarita has played a key role in TEP’s concerted effort to keep attention off Copper World.
TEP’s plan to jointly construct the Santa Rita Substation with Hudbay publicly surfaced in an exchange of emails between TEP and Sahuarita’s development director. The emails were part of the May 26 exhibts that TEP filed with the Line Siting Committee.
To understand the importance of the emails, it’s necessary to describe events immediately before they were exchanged.
On Jan. 12, TEP officials met with Sahuarita town staff to discuss the need for the Santa Rita Connection project including whether the power line project “has any connection to Copper World.”
On Jan. 26, TEP officials appeared before the Sahuarita Town Council and made a presentation about the power line, emphasizing it would provide more reliable service to customers in Sahuarita and surrounding communities. There was no mention of Copper World.
After TEP’s presentation, Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy asked Christopher Ortiz y Pino, TEP’s Project Manager for Siting, Outreach and Engagement, if there was any link between the Santa Rita Connection and Hudbay’s Copper World mine.
“Just, because I know there’s some concerns, this really is just connected to having future capacity and growth. This is not connected to Hudbay in any way, is it?” Murphy asked.
“No, it is not,” Ortiz y Pino responded.
Six weeks later, Sahuarita Community Development Director Anna Casadei sent an email to Ortiz y Pino seeking clarification about plans for Hudbay and TEP to jointly build the Santa Rita Substation. Casadei was among the three Sahuarita staffers who met with TEP on Jan. 12, two weeks before the town council meeting.
Her email suggests she and Murphy were likely aware that Hudbay and TEP were planning to jointly build the Santa Rita Substation before the Jan. 26 council meeting.
In a March 12 email, Casadei asked Ortiz y Pino: “Can you please refresh my memory – is the collocated substation proposed to be built on the parcel owned by Rosemont (Copper World) or the adjacent (Arizona State Land Department) parcel?”
Ortiz y Pino responded a few minutes later stating that the substation would be on the State Trust Land.
“The Santa Rita Substation will be on a leased parcel from ASLD that is directly adjacent to the “Rosemont” CopperWorld (sic) parcel. The Santa Rita Substation will now house the connection from CopperWorld,” Ortiz y Pino stated.
The connection from Copper World Ortiz y Pino is referring to is the 138 kV power line that was previously approved in 2012 from the Toro Switchyard to the mine site. That power line will now go from the Santa Rita Substation to Copper World.
“This is not connected to Hudbay in any way, is it?”
Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy
Ortiz y Pino then asserted that the Hudbay-TEP Santa Rita Substation would be good for TEP ratepayers.
“This will be a cost benefit to TEP customers as CopperWorld will be footing the bill for a portion of this larger substation that will benefit nearly 14k residents in the south of Tucson/Sahuarita area,” Ortiz y Pino stated.
SSSR requests state to require TEP to amend CEC application
The email exchange between Sahuarita and TEP is the only mention in more than 800 pages included in TEP’s application for the Certificate for Environmental Compatibility that discusses Hudbay and TEP jointly building the Santa Rita Substation and providing power to Copper World.
There is no economic analysis of how much of the $18 million cost of the Santa Rita Connection will be borne by ratepayers versus Hudbay. And no discussion of how much money Hudbay will contribute to the Santa Rita Substation construction.
SSSR has requested the Line Siting Committee require TEP to amend its CEC application and fully disclose that the Santa Rita Substation will be jointly built by Hudbay and TEP and that it will provide power for Copper World.
SSSR also requested the committee to require TEP to submit an independently-prepared System Impact Study to analyze Copper World’s enormous demand on the electric grid.
“These actions will put the Arizona Corporation Commission on notice that there are significant cost implications and justification issues that must be carefully considered to ensure that TEP ratepayers are not subsidizing the cost of the (Santa Rita Connection) Project to benefit Copper World’s owner, Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc.,” SSSR’s Executive Director John Dougherty stated.
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