Why Doesn't Arizona Observe Daylight Saving Time?

Everyone in the United States except Arizona and Hawaii has two days a year on which they set their clocks back or forward: once in the spring and then again in the fall. Twice a year the clocks are changed due to the time shift caused by daylight saving time. Daylight saving time was originally implemented during the World Wars; but, it has been permanent since the passage of the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. There are only two states in the Union that currently don’t observe it, Arizona and Hawaii.

The reason Daylight Saving Time exists in much of the US is due to efforts towards conserving energy. If the clock is shifted to a later hour, then the time will be later in the day when the sun sets, providing a longer period of daylight for businesses and activities. As a result of more hours of daylight, people are awake during fewer hours of darkness, resulting in less electricity used for lighting.

Daylight Saving Time begins each year on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday of November. Knowing this schedule change allows you to plan for the loss or gain of an hour of sleep depending on whether it is the spring or in the fall.

A child’s saying helps you remember whether the clocks will be turned forward or back: "the time does change; the clock will spring forward or fall back." In the spring, you lose an hour of sleep and in the fall, you gain an extra hour of sleep. Inevitably, every time the time changes, some people oversleep or get to appointments an hour early.

Arizona Does Not Observe Daylight Saving Time

Arizona followed the country in instituting daylight saving during the wars and during the trial period of the program prior to 1973. There were however, so many complaints from the citizens and businessmen of Arizona that the Governor petitioned for the state to be exempted from the daylight saving time program. In 1974 President Nixon granted the state permission to not take part in the annual program.

Arizona Climate and Daylight Saving

Arizona’s reason for not wishing to take part in the program was due to the excessive heat the state experiences during the period of the year that daylight savings time is in effect.

Many people that work outside of an office building during the day have their schedules shifted in certain seasons in Arizona so that they perform their work in the early morning before the real heat hits.

After work, people typically wait until the sun sets and the temperatures begin to moderate to participate in outdoor activities. If daylight saving time were in effect, people would have to start work in the wee hours of the morning and wait until very late at night to run their errands and take part in their other outdoor activities.

History of Daylight Saving

The first implementation of the daylight saving policy occurred during WWI to conserve fuel for the war effort. After the war, the clocks reverted to normal operation.

When WWII arrived, once again the policy was instituted so that oil and other energy sources could be conserved. Following WWII, there were again years in which daylight saving time was not practiced. It was not until the energy crisis of the 1970s that Congress instituted a national policy of daylight saving time.

Some in Arizona Observe Daylight Saving

Despite the statewide practice of not observing daylight saving, some individuals within Arizona do adhere to the practice.

• The Navajo Indian Reservation resides in four states with one part of it in northwestern Arizona. The tribe officials decided to observe daylight saving time because three quarters of the tribal land is in states that observe daylight saving time.
• Many businesses face the potential loss of business and the added difficulty keeping in touch with their customers due to the change of their operation times compared to companies in the rest of the country. As a result, some company’s operation hours shift by an hour every time daylight saving time started or stopped.

Despite the fact that some observe the change, ultimately the reason why doesn't Arizona observe daylight saving time is basically a climate issue. To facilitate working and leisure activities that are done outdoors, the people have decided to maintain a time schedule that gives them less daylight in the hottest months of the year.