David Wichner

Mar 10, 2025 | tucson.com | David Wichner

More than 30 years ago, a pair of young scientists landed in Tucson and helped develop electronically dimmed glass that would later find its way into millions of cars as auto-dimming rearview mirrors. Now they’re looking to push the latest version of their technology into millions of homes, as spiraling energy costs are driving demand for energy-efficient windows.

Mar 1, 2025 | tucson.com | David Wichner

Tucson voters have rejected a new Tucson Electric Power Co. franchise agreement with the city that included a fee to help fund the underground installation of a major transmission line through midtown as well as funding future climate-action programs, early results show. Proposition 412 would have raised the TEP bills of city residents an average of about $1 a month through a new fee “community resilience fee” while keeping the current franchise fee. Prop.

Feb 25, 2025 | tucson.com | David Wichner

Tucson Electric Power is seeking to set pollution limits for one gas-fired generator at its power plant on East Irvington Road to reflect a planned shift to seasonal use. But environmental advocates say TEP may be trying to get ahead of potentially stricter pollution limits in a state regional haze plan that has yet to be finalized.

Feb 25, 2025 | tucson.com | David Wichner

A federal judge has quashed a bid by three tribes and an environmental group to stop the ongoing work of Hudbay Minerals Inc. in grading and land-clearing on the west slope of the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. U.S. District Judge James A.

Feb 25, 2025 | tucson.com | David Wichner

A Boston-based developer is exploring the potential for what would be Arizona’s biggest wind farm on an expanse of high desert in Pinal County north of Oracle, about 30 miles north of Tucson. But the company’s plan to erect up to 83 wind turbines at the site known as Oak Wells has already drawn opposition from local ranchers who say the wind farm would harm rangeland as well as the environment and native wildlife.