PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona Public Service (APS) electric customers with solar panels will still need to pay a relatively new monthly fee after the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted in favor of the grid access charge.
Commissioners reaffirmed the fee in a 3-1 decision on Tuesday. The APS grid access charge (GAC) was approved in February and came under fire after opponents said it discriminated against residential solar customers by increasing rates.
“In general, all costs related to such services should be equitably distributed to each class of service. As demonstrated… residential solar customers are paying less than 70% of the costs to serve them,” Judge Belinda Martin said.
Proponents of the upgraded charges say there is a cost shift in place now and that the restructured charges will balance costs between the two types of customers.
“$61 million were imposed on APS’ residential customers that do not have solar. That means about one million customers have been paying the bill for those that have solar on their homes,” said Jim O’Connor, an ACC chairman.
APS says the fee is a fixed charge that helps recover the costs of maintaining services and equipment. Regulators say that solar customers rely on APS’ power grid to provide electricity when their systems aren’t working, which is why the increase is justified.
Still, groups like the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association (AriSEIA) disagreed, saying that utility provider miscalculated the cost of service to solar customers.
“APS testified that if the ACC eliminated the solar fees, the difference would be $.25 to residential customers. Despite the evidence, the ACC will penalize solar customers several dollars per month and approved an amendment to increase it in APS’ next rate case, which is anticipated to be filed in 2025,” the association said in a news release after the ruling.
“The evidentiary record makes it clear that solar customers are subsidizing non-solar customers and yet APS and the ACC continue to penalize solar customers with unfounded and discriminatory fees,” said Autumn Johnson, the executive director of AriSEIA.
In a news release, the ACC said critics of the opinion have “mischaracterized the GAC as a ‘solar tax’ on about 184,000 Arizonans with rooftop solar.”
“I understand no one wants to pay more on their bills, but this is about parity and fairness for all ratepayers,” said Commissioner Kevin Thompson. “I hope there’s a day when homeowners can live completely free from the grid, but we are not there now. I believe all costs related to providing service should be equally and fairly distributed among all classes of customers, and we have a duty to address cost shifts and subsidies when they exist.”
AriSEIA said an appeal is likely early next year.
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