By Ryan Randazzo | The Republic | azcentral.com
The state’s rapidly growing solar industry suffered a setback Thursday when the Arizona Corporation Commission narrowly voted to impose an average $5 monthly fee on new
solar customers’ bills to make them pay for using the power grid.
The 3-2 vote was a blow to the industry, which says it will make solar less affordable for people, and a disappointment to Arizona Public Service Co., which had sought higher fees to prevent non-solar customers from subsidizing solar users.
But both sides also found small victories in the vote, which capped a months-long debate watched with intense interest nationally. The solar industry said it was a victory that the utility got only a fraction of its request. APS said it was a victory that regulators acknowledged that solar customers shift power costs to non-solar customers, which many utilities nationwide are seeking to prove.
