By Rachel Leingang and Luige del Puerto | Arizona Capitol Times
Less than two years after the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a small monthly surcharge on residential solar, the state’s largest utility is asking energy regulators to impose a 320-percent increase in the solar fee.
In its application to the commission, APS said the fee hike to $21 is needed because the current $5 monthly surcharge on a typical 7-kilowatt solar system does not adequately cover solar customers’ fair share of maintaining the electric grid.
Utilities have argued that cost is shifted to non-solar users. APS justified its application by saying the “fair” fee is actually $67 per month for solar customers. But, in the spirit of gradualism, APS wants to reset the charge to $3 per kilowatt, which comes out to a monthly charge of $21 for an average-size solar system.
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