80% Oppose Proposed Rooftop Solar Tax According To Respected Pollster
(PHOENIX) The Salt River Project’s proposed $50 a month tax on rooftop solar customers is not sitting well with SRP ratepayers. A new poll surveyed three hundred likely voters in SRP’s coverage area with this question:
As you may know, the Salt River Project has proposed taxing rooftop solar customers an average of an additional fifty dollars per month. Do you think the Salt River Project Board of Directors should support this proposal or oppose this proposal?
Here is how they responded:
7% DEFINITELY SUPPORT
5% PROBABLY SUPPORT
14% PROBABLY OPPOSE
66% DEFINITELY OPPOSE
80% also oppose SRP’s proposed 3.9% rate hike on all customers.
Here is the survey question:
As you may know, the Salt River Project is proposing a rate increase of three-point-nine percent
for all customers. Do you favor or oppose that increase?
Here is the response:
3% STRONGLY FAVOR
13% SOMEWHAT FAVOR
15% SOMEWHAT OPPOSE
65% STRONGLY OPPOSE
72% of respondents also agreed with this statement:
A growing solar power market in Arizona will help keep rates down for consumers.
Currently, 81% of those surveyed have a favorable view of Salt River Project (SRP). By comparison, only 32% have a favorable opinion of Arizona Public Service (APS). To maintain its reputation, the elected Board members of SRP might be wise to reflect on these numbers as they consider approving a request from SRP’s bureaucracy to tax rooftop solar customers approximately $50 a month. The vote is expected to happen February 26.
The survey was prepared by Glen Bolger, one of the Republican Party’s leading political strategists and pollsters. Bolger is a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, whose clients include leading political figures, Fortune 500 companies, and a number of successful Republican congressional candidates in Arizona. For a copy of the survey, contact Michael Anthony Scerbo at Mscerbo@rosemoserallynpr.com or click here for a link.
Bolger said, “Opposition to the solar tax reaches across partisan, ideological, racial, gender, and age lines. In the court of public opinion, Salt River Project’s plans fall flat.”
TUSK (Tell Utilities Solar won’t be Killed) was formed to stand for solar energy choice and energy independence.
TUSK Chairman Barry Goldwater Jr. stated, “I have always had a great deal of respect for SRP and its elected Board. If that Board truly values the utility’s reputation, then it should reject this solar tax, which is opposed by 80% of its customers.”
To learn more about T.U.S.K., visit www.dontkillsolar.com. T.U.S.K. believes that rooftop solar is similar to a charter school—it provides a competitive alternative to the monopoly. Monopoly utilities aren’t known for reducing costs or for driving business innovation, but the solar industry is. Solar companies have a track record of aggressive cost reduction. The more people use rooftop solar, the less power they need to buy from the utilities. Energy independence means smaller profits for the utilities, so they are doing everything they can to stop the spread of independent solar.
