The Arizona Department of Economic Security is launching a program to offer $36 million of assistance to help households pay utility bills. The program is aimed at helping low income households and those who hold debt due to utilities.

APS had been requesting an increase in the rates its customers pay — to the tune of nearly 5% a month on average. The prevailing winds going into this week indicated the utility was not going to be successful in a broader sense, and that proved to be the case.

Some Mesa water customers may experience subtle cloudiness from their taps until the first part of next year.

The Bureau of Reclamation has released its five-year projection for the Colorado River, and the outlook has not improved.

State utility regulators have summoned Southwest Gas Corporation to a special meeting on Tuesday. Commissioners want to know more about a major fire, an explosion and the recent evacuation of homes in a wealthy part of the Valley.

The Salt River Project is angering environmentalists with a move to invest nearly $1 billion in expanding natural gas at the Coolidge Generating Station. Critics of the plan say it belies the commitment SRP has made to cut carbon emissions by 65% by 2035.

Researchers in California have come up with an idea they say would save water by preventing evaporation: covering the state’s nearly 4,000 miles of canals with solar panels.

Last month, Salt River Project announced a planned expansion of the Coolidge Generating Station, which currently generates enough energy to serve about 150,000 homes. The expansion would cost nearly $900 million and add 16 more natural gas powered turbines to provide energy to 200,000 additional households.

Salt River Project will seek approval from its governing board to expand its Coolidge Generating Station, but conservationists have questions about the plan.