San Carlos irrigation project; divestiture
House Concurrent Memorial 2009 is a request from the Arizona Legislature to the U.S. Congress to divest the federal government, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, of the San Carlos Irrigation Project (SCIP) electric system. The memorial explains that SCIP is one of only two electric systems operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and argues that long-term drought, reliance on short-term power purchases, federal contracting constraints, and limits on financing have made the system unreliable and expensive to operate.
The memorial further states that SCIP customers have faced major rate increases, service shutoffs, and repeated outages, and that the system’s large, fragmented service area across tribal and nontribal lands makes maintenance and modernization difficult. It urges Congress not only to authorize divestiture, but also to provide funding for a system study and needed improvements so customers can receive reliable, affordable, and safe electric service.
Because HCM2009 is a concurrent memorial rather than a statute, it does not directly change Arizona law or regulate utilities in the state. Its practical effect is to formally communicate Arizona’s position to Congress and to advocate for federal legislation that would transfer or divest the SCIP electric system from federal control, potentially enabling a new operating arrangement involving local or tribal public power entities. If acted on federally, the proposal could affect SCIP customers, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Gila River Indian Community, and other stakeholders in the service territory.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the Arizona Legislature. It passed committee and floor votes in both chambers unanimously, with strong bipartisan approval and no recorded opposition in the available vote history. The framing of the memorial emphasizes customer hardship, reliability, affordability, and public safety, which likely contributed to the favorable reception.
There is little evidence of active contention in the available record, since all recorded votes were unanimous and no committee transcript is provided. The underlying policy issue, however, involves a significant structural question: whether the federal government should continue operating SCIP or divest it to another entity. The memorial presents divestiture as the solution, while also acknowledging the need for funding, system study, and modernization; any future federal action could raise questions about ownership, financing, employee transitions, tribal jurisdiction, and how service would be divided among tribal and nontribal areas.