Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Out in the Southeast Valley, the Loop 202 freeway is often seen as a political compass. To the north of it is dense with Democratic voters; to the south, suburbs that start with a kiss of GOP pink but soon deepen to a solid red.

Arizona is closer to an energy efficient future after the Corporation Commission approved a higher standard for energy savings this month. Under the proposed rule, electric utilities will need to find energy efficiencies that equal 35% of peak demand by 2030, up from the 22% standard set to expire at the end of the year.

The Arizona Corporation Commission moved Thursday to set a new target for clean emissions that would require electric utilities to use 100% carbon-free power by 2050.

The voter registration period in Arizona has come to a close after a pressurized 10 days in which the deadline was challenged, extended and cut short.

The future is murky for many Arizona rivers and streams now that changes to the Clean Water Act have narrowed federal oversight. Yet with no map or list delineating where state control begins, the number of vulnerable waterways in Arizona is immense.

Mail-in voting has a little known advocate in Arizona — and for this group, it’s about giving voters time to finish the ballot. With nearly 80 judges up for retention, and as many as 40 in Maricopa County alone, the state commission tasked with evaluating all of them hopes their findings won’t be skipped or overlooked.