By Jim Mapstead, contributing writer | Phoenix Business Journal
As a business owner and former candidate for Phoenix City Council, I have always believed in putting people before well-heeled special interests. That debate is front and center at the Arizona Corporation Commission as its commissioners consider the future of rooftop solar.
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussions purposes only.)
Last month the ACC eliminated our successful net energy metering, or NEM, policy, the program under which utilities credit rooftop solar customers at the full retail rate for extra electricity they sent back to the grid. The utilities re-sell this clean, distributed excess power at the same retail rate to a nearby customer. NEM benefits the entire utility system by reducing the need to build additional expensive power plants and transmission lines.
