The Alliance for Solar Choice is asking Arizona utility regulators to reconsider their December decision to end the system of net-metering, which will reduce what utilities pay residential customers for excess power they send to the grid.
Net-metering is a common system where utilities give solar customers a full retail credit for each kilowatt-hour of electricity they send to the grid. That occurs when their appliances are not drawing all the power being produced from their solar panels.
Members of the Arizona Corporation Commission voted 4-1 in December to replace net-metering with a system that gives solar customers credit for their electricity based on what that power would be worth if it came from traditional power plants. Those payments are yet to be calculated, but they would be something less than the retail price of electricity, and the change will therefore reduce the monthly utility savings for people who install solar.
TASC, which opposed many facets of the decision, has filed a document at the commission asserting regulators inappropriately changed a rule without following the proper legal procedure.
βWeβre seeking reconsideration to protect the rights of all stakeholders in this and future proceedings,β said Anne Hoskins, chief policy officer for Sunrun Inc., a TASC member company. βWe are particularly concerned about the commissionβs conclusion that the outcome of this proceeding is binding in upcoming hearings when the commission did not use the legally required process.β
In addition to Sunrun, TASC represents SolarCity Corp. in the matter, even though that company withdrew from the group regarding future matters.
Some solar companies based in Arizona did not oppose the net-metering changes.
The application for a rehearing, filed Monday, asserts the commission created new rules without complying with the Arizona Administrative Procedural Act, that the new rules are broader than what was described in public notices and that facts outside the record were considered improperly, among other complaints.
βThe rules adopted in the decision are void,β the motion said.
The parties involved in the motion have a history of challenging changes to solar policies in Arizona. For example, SolarCity sued the Salt River Project in 2015 after that utility changed the rules for solar customers. The case is ongoing.
The Rose Law Group, which is representing TASC, also filed a class-action suit that year against SRP for improperly raising rates. That case was dismissed in September.
The solar changes TASC is challenging at the Corporation Commission wonβt become effective for utilities until they conclude their next individual rate cases.
In making the decision, the commissioners accepted the net-metering recommendation of an administrative law judge that utilities buy the energy for a price based on what they actually save in avoided costs of power plants, fuel and infrastructure.
