Customers of Tucson Electric Power and other Arizona utilities looking to install rooftop solar systems could face much lower bill credits for excess energy they export to the grid, as state utility regulators look to review such credits next week.
Solar supporters say a move by the Arizona Corporation Commission to reduce so-called solar export rates would reverse a carefully crafted, six-year-old commission policy decision and hamstring the stateโs burgeoning solar energy industry.
But Commission member Nick Myers, a Queen Creek Republican, is leading a drive to allow deeper cuts to the solar export rate, arguing that the current rates essentially result in a subsidy of rooftop solar customers by customers without solar.
In August, the ACC voted to drop solar export rates by the maximum 10% allowed annually for rooftop solar energy systems installed by customers of TEP, Arizona Public Service Co. and TEP sister utility UniSource Energy Services.
Each utility annually calculates its solar export credit rate โ known as the Resource Comparison Proxy or RCP rate โ based on studies of the costs of service and comparable power generation.
TEPโs export rate dropped to 6.33 cents per kilowatt hour starting Oct. 1, down from a rate of 7.03 per kWh the prior year.
Myers, during the August proceedings, wanted to drop TEPโs export rate to as low as 3 cents per kWh, based on TEPโs cost studies.
The rest of the commission approved the 10% cuts, but Chairman Jim OโConnor said the commission could revisit the issue at an upcoming open meeting.
The matter is on the agenda for the ACCโs Oct. 11 open meeting, when the commission will consider and possibly vote to reopen the Value of Solar decision or to open a new case docket to address possible changes, including the 10% annual reduction cap, the current 10-year rate lock-in and the grandfathering policy for prior net-metering customers.
Solar industry groups and supporters, including the Arizona Solar Industries Association, Vote Solar and Solar United Neighbors argue that rooftop solarโs contribution to the grid is undervalued and that cutting solar export rates would make going solar less affordable and devastate a statewide solar industry worth $1.5 billion annually.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Watch at azcc.gov/live.
