On September 15, 2025, Governor Katie Hobbs signed Executive Order 2025-13, “Removing Barriers to Delivering Affordable Energy for Arizona,” which established the Arizona Energy Promise Taskforce under the Governor’s Office of Resiliency. The Taskforce delivered its report on March 1, 2026, with recommendations addressing large load growth, emerging resources such as geothermal and advanced nuclear, and a generation and transmission corridor plan aimed at cutting red tape for projects using state lands.  

Why does this matter? The Taskforce report cites utility estimates that peak demand could rise by up to 40% over the next 15 years, while identifying population growth, economic development, extreme heat, manufacturing, electric vehicles, and data centers as major demand drivers. For developers, permitting counsel, lenders, and investors, the message is clear that land control, transmission access, interconnection, water use, and community engagement need to be early diligence items.    

One of the most practical recommendations is a voluntary centralized permitting coordination council for multi-jurisdictional projects, including projects with a federal nexus. The report also calls for early issue identification, data sharing, timeline alignment, developer guidance, and expedited state-issued permits where legally feasible.  

Arizona is signaling that energy project development is now an economic development issue, a real estate issue, and an environmental planning issue all at once; Arizona is working to attract the next wave of generation, transmission, storage, geothermal, nuclear, and large-load investment.