Arizona approves charge for rooftop solar customers

The ACC has approved a request from Arizona Public Service (APS), a major utility, to raise electricity rates for all customers, assess fixed charges, and to single out those who have invested in rooftop solar with the highest of such charges.

ACC Chair Jim O’Connor said he and three Republican ACC members approved the rate plan without knowing the real impact it would have on customers’ bills. Under the new rate hike, O’Connor promised that customers will see their bills rise roughly 8% – far outpacing inflation.

APS President Ted Geisler told reporters that residential customers should expect to see bills increase by about $10 to $12 per month, while customers with rooftop solar can expect to see their bills increase by as much as $15 per month. The move comes on the heels of Arizona reducing its rooftop solar export rates, known as net metering rates, by 10% last summer.

However, the full impact of the rate hike has not been fully evaluated by the ACC. Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund requested the commission reconsider the approval, suggesting that APS should be required to testify under oath the exact projected impact on customers.

“Comprehensive data should be entered into the docket, and APS executives should be sworn in before they speak,” wrote Diane Brown in an appeal from the organization. “The commission failed to ask the questions necessary to ensure they had adequate and complete data before voting on the entire rate plan.”

Michael O’Donnell, vice president of Arizona-based solar installer Sunsolar Solutions, called the proposal “truly outrageous.” He said solar customers are already paying about $80 per month on average to be connected to the grid, and that under the new rate structure, these customers can expect to pay $120 per month. This would even apply to customers who produce 100% or more of their electricity from their rooftop array.

Despite having an abundance of sun, steadily rising rates, and high electricity demand due to air conditioning use, Arizona is not a leading rooftop solar market. Export rates are low, and the ACC has approved numerous cuts, reductions, and demand charges on solar customers.

“Arizona is a needlessly difficult state to do business in,” said Christopher Worley, director of policy for Sunrun. “Adding unsupported, discriminatory charges to the state’s already low export rates is punitive to solar customers, bad for the solar industry, and bad for ratepayers.”