Kudos to the Arizona Corporation Commission for ending one of the many subsidies for urban sprawl in Arizona and for insisting that growth pays for itself. Developers have long built leapfrog developments such as Anthem with significant subsidies from taxpayers — widening I-17 — and, in this case, ratepayers.
Why should Arizona Public Service Company, Tucson Electric Power and, frankly, Salt River Project ratepayers pick up the costs associated with extending transmission lines to these far-flung developments or to the next mansion in the middle of the forest?  They should not, and thank goodness we have some policymakers who recognize that. (SRP is not regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission. It is not affected by this decision and has no plans to end these subsidies for sprawl through its ratepayers.)
These types of subsidies have become so ingrained in our system and Arizona has said “anything goes” when it comes to development for so long that the Homebuilders Association, land speculators, and developers, see the subsidies as entitlements. They are really squawking now and seeking to overturn a good solid public-policy decision. They say the current system was working. Of course it was — for them. 
What about the millions of ratepayers who have for years been paying the freight for these developers? The Arizona Corporation Commission should hold its ground and refuse to overturn this decision. It is OK to say “no” to the development interests, at least once in awhile. It is OK to look out for the rest of Arizona.
— Sandy Bahr is conservation outreach director for the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club.