By Jon Talton | roguecolumnist.com
Arizona Public Service is engaged in a campaign to undercut solar power in the state. The 18,000 APS customers with solar panels essentially get a credit on their bill for the energy they don’t use from the regular electrical grid. APS complains, as an Arizona Republic story put it, “customers with solar often see their bills reduced to the point that they are no longer contributing toward routine costs associated with maintaining the power grid. That, they say, forces customers without solar to pay the entire cost of maintaining the grid, even though solar customers use the grid to get power at night or when clouds pass overhead and to distribute their excess electricity.” APS is asking the Corporation Commission to allow it to charge new solar customers an average of $50 to $100 more.
This has produced protests and at least one critical editorial. It is happening against a backdrop of efforts to “deregulate” the state power market (California, Enron, hello…?). Even the long arm of the Koch brothers is reaching in to support APS. The state’s nascent solar industry is fighting on the other side. But with the powerful and little-scrutinized Corporation Commission now firmly in the hands of the Kookocracy, APS may well win. It would be one more headwind facing solar power in the sunniest state in the union. Perhaps worse, it distracts from the conversations we ought to be having about solar. With most of the reporting being “he said/she said” stories intended to avoid irritating powerful APS, it’s difficult for most Arizonans to get the facts or explore the larger issues. I’ll try to make a beginning in the next few columns. But today I’ll focus on APS.
If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, Co-Chair of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com
