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The solar industry has already experienced year-over-year declines in business due to rising interest rates and other negative economic conditions.
Joe Dana
12 News
After sending shockwaves through the state’s solar industry during the last couple of days, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers removed a proposal that would have significantly reduced compensation rates paid to future solar homeowners.
As 12News reported earlier this week, Myers filed a proposal Tuesday to push down the price utilities like APS pay to rooftop solar homeowners by 37% beginning Sept. 1. Solar industry leaders said they were blindsided by the news.
“Giving the market no time to respond to that, it just doesn’t make any sense at all,” said Michael O’Donnell, vice president of Sun Solar.
The industry was anticipating a less severe 10% cut to rates beginning in September. A 2017 settlement at the commission states the rate private utilities pay homeowners, known as the Rate Comparison Proxy, can be incrementally reduced each year but not by more than 10% annually.
Dozens of solar company owners, employees and activists showed up Thursday at the commission to voice their concern over Myers’ proposal. They noted Myers and his colleague Kevin Thompson have vowed to create an environment of regulator stability. Myers’ proposal would do the opposite, they said.
The solar industry has already experienced year-over-year declines in business due to rising interest rates and other negative economic conditions, said Autumn Johnson of the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association.
“Some companies are already looking at 20% declines in revenue,” Johnson said.
