By Jodie Newell | Pinal Central
CASA GRANDE — When asking Pinal Partnership CEO Craig McFarland about rising energy demands throughout Pinal County, the former Casa Grande mayor’s answer is telling.
He said the county has never seen projected demand increases of up to 40% reported by utility providers such as Arizona Public Service Co., Salt River Project and Electric Districts 2 and 3 that serve Pinal County.
“This is an unprecedented time,” McFarland told PinalCentral. “It’s unprecedented in terms of the amount of energy that is being required and really the reason why it’s got to be an all-above approach that we are facing with this increase. If you listen to SRP, they’re thinking double, triple their output that’s taken them over 100 years to try and get to that point now. Now we have to double it in the next 10 years.”
McFarland rates the issue so highly that he requested to address both the Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council last week.
According to McFarland, his twin addresses to the council and planning panel had two objectives: to counter misinformation and to ensure elected officials and commissioners have accurate information and data to make better-informed decisions.
“The presentation I delivered was aimed at countering a lot of misinformation that’s out there. We need to make sure that the public and our officials are really educated with regard to our energy needs in the future, where we are today and what future power needs are going to look like.”
