By Evan Wyloge | Arizona Capitol Times
For months, Arizona’s largest utility provider and the solar industry have waged a public relations war over the future of the state’s solar energy incentives.
That fight now moves to the Arizona Corporation Commission, as the energy regulator formally begins consideration of opposing proposals from each side.
At the center of the debate is the compensation utility customers get for the solar energy their rooftop panels produce. The practice in place now, called net metering, means Arizona residents who produce solar energy from rooftop panels can offset their electric bill with what they produce. If they don’t use everything they produce – and most don’t – they are compensated for the excess energy, which flows back into the energy grid and reduces the amount of energy the utility must generate.
