The Arizona Corporation Commission has voted to reaffirm a controversial charge levied on some customers with rooftop solar panels.The utility-regulating panel voted 3-1 on Tuesday, finding that the grid-access charge doesn’t unlawfully discriminate against residential solar customers. Rather, the commission, citing what it termed substantial evidence, called the charges “just, reasonable and in the public interest.”Anna Tovar, the only Democrat on the five-member panel, cast the lone negative vote on an issue that affects more than 110,000 customers of utility Arizona Public Service. Commissioner Lea Marquez Peterson didn’t cast a vote because of an unexpected absence owing to a family emergency.“The salient point is that APS must provide safe and reliable service to all customers,” said Administrative Law Judge Belinda Martin, in a recommended opinion and order that was cited by the commission.“In general, all costs related to such services should be equitably distributed to each class of service (yet) . . . residential solar customers are paying less than 70% of the costs to serve them,” she said. Without the grid-access charge, the cost of serving residential solar and non-solar customers would be different.Holiday deals: Shop this season’s top products and sales curated by our editors.But a critic of the charge, Adrian Keller, Arizona program director at nonprofit Solar United Neighbors, said the vote effectively gives APS “another tool to penalize families who invest in energy independence.”In a commentary, the commission said critics have mischaracterized the charge as a “solar tax” on about 184,000 Arizonans with rooftop solar.Rather, the commissioners called the charge a fixed fee averaging between $2 and $3 per month to recover costs by residential solar customers who generate their own electricity. Those same customers rely on APS’ power grid to provide electricity when their systems are not producing, mainly during evening hours.About 73,000 APS residential customers with a billing system called “net metering” aren’t subject to the grid-access charge, with the remaining 111,000 solar customers paying it.The charge helps to recover the cost of maintaining services and equipment that previously were absorbed by non-solar customers.“That means about 1 million customers have been paying the bill for those that have solar on their homes,” said Chairman Jim O’Connor, who voted in favor of the charge.Commissioner Kevin Thompson termed the vote a matter of parity and fairness.“I hope there’s a day when homeowners can live completely free from the grid, but we are not there now,” he said.Keller, though, said the Commission has consistently approved APS’ requests “while neglecting the ratepayers they are supposed to protect.” Residential solar power generation, he added, helps to reduce the need for expensive infrastructure, strengthens grid resilience and saves money for everyone.Reach the writer at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com. …
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