In Arizona, keeping the lights on is about more than just business. It is a matter of life and safety when summer temperatures soar past 110 degrees. That’s why it’s so important to protect the people who do this critical work.

As someone who has worked more than three decades in the utility industry, I know that a functioning grid does not happen by luck. It takes technical discipline, decades of training, and a tireless commitment to safety. Our utilities count on their crews to deliver reliable energy around the clock, whatever the weather.

Unfortunately, these workers face an increasingly hostile work environment. Confrontations, threats, and even direct assaults on utility crews are becoming more common, adding new risks to an already dangerous job. Last year, for example, employees of Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and sister company UniSource Energy Services were directly threatened in person 27 separate times. That’s about twice a month, and it doesn’t include the many threats delivered online or over the phone.

Utility workers are often first responders during storms and emergencies, restoring service and protecting public safety in uncomfortable or even hazardous conditions. This work often requires access to customers’ yards and other private property — including, in some cases, entry into customers’ homes. While most people are cooperative and understanding, some respond angrily or even violently.

It’s high time we grant utility workers the same, specific protections against assault that Arizona law provides for police, firefighters and other first responders. Senate Bill 1448 would provide this protection, ensuring that attacks on utility workers are automatically designated as aggravated assault. The higher penalty associated with this charge reflects the critical role these employees play in protecting public safety, and the need to deter violence against them.

I strongly urge our state lawmakers to support final passage of SB1448 so that it can be sent to the desk of Gov. Katie Hobbs, who I am hopeful will sign it. There’s no downside to providing additional protections to the people behind our state’s energy infrastructure.

Common Sense Solutions

This measure is just the kind of common-sense solution that the Southern Arizona Energy Alliance (SAEA) was created to support. I serve as a founding member of SAEA, as well as an international representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents 11,000 workers across our state.

Keeping our community running depends on the people who do the work. Utility workers are your friends and neighbors. They are the men and women who head out during monsoon storms and extreme heat to make sure your family stays safe and cool.

When our workers are protected, they can focus on the specialized skills needed to maintain our grid. Today, our local energy system maintains a reliability rate of more than 99.9%. That standard is among the best in the nation, and our workers take immense pride in maintaining it.

The Southern Arizona Energy Alliance stands for solutions that protect our neighbors and our infrastructure. We believe in supporting the people who keep our region resilient. SB1448 is a common-sense way to look after the experts who look after us. It recognizes that utility work is an essential service that deserves respect and protection.

I urge you to contact your state legislators and ask them to support SB1448. Let us work together to protect the experts who keep Southern Arizona running. We must protect our jobs, our workers, and the reliable power that makes our way of life possible.

Frank Grijalva is an international representative for the IBEW and a founding board member of the Southern Arizona Energy Alliance with over 31 years of utility experience.