Arizona Public Service Co. said Friday it will put off its quest to raise rates on solar customers until its rate hearings begin next summer if regulators will proceed with a study to determine whether residential customers subsidize those with solar panels.
The state’s biggest utility asked utility regulators this year to raise the monthly fee on new solar customers to an average of about $21 a month to pay for their use of the power grid throughout the day when solar panels aren’t meeting all of their electricity needs.
The five elected Arizona Corporation Commissioners approved a fee of about $5 a month in late 2013, which remains in place.
