Tucson Electric Power Co. must wait for its next full rate case to request changes that would cut savings for customers with rooftop solar arrays.
In the meantime, TEP can’t tell customers there’s a cutoff date when they may face higher bills, the Arizona Corporation Commission ruled Tuesday.
TEP’s proposal to cut the excess-energy credits it gives rooftop solar customers was formally withdrawn by TEP with the commission’s approval, after the agency’s staff and solar advocates opposed the move.
The net-metering issue will now be heard in a full rate case TEP plans to file by year’s end.
But the Corporation Commission on Tuesday also prompted TEP to alter a disclaimer about potential cost increases for solar customers that some said had thrown cold water on the local solar market.
In its online marketing materials, TEP notified customers that it had filed to change the net-metering policy, and those changes would apply to those who filed to interconnect new solar arrays to TEP’s grid after June 1 of this year.
TEP, which filed its request in March, said it was simply trying to help prospective solar customers make informed decisions about whether to install solar. TEP estimated its plan would cost the typical solar customer about $22 a month in lost credits.
But a parade of witnesses including solar-industry representatives, industry workers and prospective solar customers said the disclaimer had created uncertainty that cast a chill on the solar installations.
Solar-industry representative Court Rich noted that TEP has been authorized to offer company-owned solar arrays on customer homes and in return guarantee customers steady electric rates for 25 years.
“They should not be able to offer these customers a certainty the private sector cannot offer,” said Rich, representing The Alliance for Solar Choice.
Tucson City Council members Steve Kozachik and Karin Ulich also sent letters to the Corporation Commission opposing any retroactive rate changes.
Louis Woofenden, a local solar installer, said TEP’s proposal and a similar net-metering proposal by rural provider Trico Electric Cooperative have prompted many prospective customers to balk at installing solar.
“It’s more or less shut down our business in Trico territory,” said Woofenden. “This uncertainty has created a significant chilling effect.”
TEP customer Ryan Dahl told the regulators that he had been looking to install solar when he learned of the possible net-metering changes.
“I don’t know whether the rate will double or it will only slightly affect me,” he said.
Commissioner Doug Little said he felt TEP’s pilot program to install company-owned solar on about 500 homes poses little threat to the private industry.
But Little said that TEP’s inclusion of the June 1 date in its disclaimer may be improper, since the commission has traditionally avoided any kind of retroactive ratemaking.
“I think it’s probably inappropriate for utilities to be putting out retroactive grandfathered dates,” Little said.
TEP spokesman Joe Barrios said the utility was simply trying to be honest with customers about possible changes to the net-metering policy when filing for the changes March 25.
“From the time we filed the application, we’ve been upfront about it,” Barrios said. “It (June 1) was in the future when we filed for it.”
The Corporation Commission also approved Trico Electric’s request to withdraw its proposed net-metering changes, with plans to make the request as part of a rate case by year’s end.
