An Arizona solar installer is glad that “a utility in our state is saying, ‘We see a place for solar.’” Arizona utility APS just proposed that its regulator increase the grid access charge for solar “from 70 cents per kilowatt — or approximately $5 per month — to $3 per kilowatt, or roughly $21 per… Keep reading →
“This is an open door for the storage industry to play if they are able to match the value and economics of a peaker.” A groundbreaking agreement between Arizona Public Service (APS) and Arizona’s ratepayer advocate could create a surge of new storage deployment in the state over the next seven years. Late last week,… Keep reading →
Who’s the biggest turkey of them all? Creating year-end lists is usually an exercise in positive thinking and congratulatory back-slapping. But as the popularity of this year’s list of deceased solar companies showed us, GTM’s readers are far more interested in the morbid and the sarcastic. In celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday, here is our… Keep reading →
Quick Take: If you’ve been following the residential solar net metering controversy, you know it’s a hot issue. And a lot of the heat has been concentrated in Arizona where utility Arizona Public Service Company filed a request with state regulators to lower the above-market prices they pay for electricity generated by privately owned rooftop… Keep reading →
Quick Take: America’s 5 most loveable utilities? According to one study of consumer engagement, they are: Arizona Public Service (APS) Clark Public Utilities Salt River Project Seattle City Light SMUD What made them so popular? They offered customers a choice of programs and services. Repeat after me. Customers love choice. Customers love choice. I will… Keep reading →
State level regulators, like politicians, read the newspaper headlines, notice what is in their in-box and have a good sense of what their constituents like and dislike. This, more than anything else, explains why they seem reluctant to modify or nullify prevailing net energy metering (NEM) laws even when they realize that the status quo may be unsustainable… Keep reading →
The incentives offered by Arizona’s electric utilities have spurred their customers to install photovoltaic systems, which helps the companies comply with a mandate for renewable energy distribution. The incentives are renewable energy certificates, which are purchased by utilities from customers producing energy. But the RECs may soon become unnecessary – at least for the residential market – because the cost of producing PV energy is sinking towards parity with the cost for grid power.
This rapidly approaching reality is raising a tricky question: how will utilities demonstrate their compliance with the state’s renewable energy mandate without RECs? Keep reading →
