I was wondering why they would do this? The only thing I can think of is that they are encouraging home owners to run off their own solar cells on their own roofs instead of buying power from local utilities. If this catches on this likely would be unfair to apartment dwellers and the poor in Arizona and any other states that do this. Because apartment dwellers likely wouldn't be allowed to have full sets of solar cells on their verandas there.
Thought solar energy was free? Arizona proves it wrong
Arizona
utility regulators approve monthly fee for solar customers of state's
largest utility, impacting shares of SolarCity Corp. and SunPower Corp.
Thought solar energy was free? Arizona proves it wrong
November 15, 2013, 4:25 PM
By Claudia Assis
- Bloomberg
The Arizona Corporation Commission voted Thursday to charge a small monthly fee to customers of the state’s largest utility who are using rooftop solar panels — leaving the door open for similar fights pitting power companies against solar-energy proponents in other states.
The charge of 70 cents a month per kilowatt, or about $5 for a typical rooftop solar customer, will be effective Jan. 1.
“Overall, [it is] negative for the solar companies exposed to residential/commercial market,” analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a note to clients late Thursday.
That includes SolarCity Corp. SCTY -0.85% , which had shares down 1.7% on Friday. Shares of SunPower Corp. SPWR were down 2.5%.
The companies, however, have advanced 363% and 494% so far this year. Analysts are mostly positive about the sector, seeing strong demand for the solar systems they sell or install. Global demand for solar power is seen at about 46 gigawatts in 2014 and 53 gigawatts in 2015, up from 36.8 gigawatts this year, analysts at Baird Equity Research have said.
Arizona Public Service Co., a unit of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. PNW , said in a statement the decision will “spread the cost of maintaining a reliable electrical grid more fairly among all APS customers.”
That’s the heart of the issue for utilities. As rooftop solar panels become cheaper and more common worldwide, some utilities have said they place an unfair burden on companies and non-solar customers when it comes to maintaining the power grid in good shape.
The fee was expected to be much larger, between $50 to $100. In its statement, APS said the new charge “addresses only a portion of the cost shift,” but that it recognizes the issue.
Proponents of solar energy also claimed a victory.
“APS launched an unprecedented campaign spending millions of dollars to destroy the rooftop solar industry and they failed,” Bryan Miller, president of The Alliance for Solar Choice and vice president of public policy for solar company Sunrun, Inc., was quoted as saying in this Associated Press article. “This will allow our market to continue to grow.”
Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co. SO , has asked state regulators to look into a fee for renewable energy users beginning next year.
Follow Claudia Assis on Twitter @ClaudiaAssisMW
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