After significant pressure from Vote Solar and other organizations, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) agreed to reconsider the “Grid Access Charge,” which unfairly imposes higher electricity prices on households that have chosen to install solar panels. Despite strong opposition, the ACC is on course to confirm its decision to require rooftop solar customers to pay a Grid Access Charge at its December 17 meeting.
The Grid Access Charge was instituted in February 2024 when the ACC voted 4-1 to approve a rate increase for Arizona Public Service (APS) customers, leading to higher bills for private taxpayers. At that same meeting, utility regulators approved a monthly “solar tax” for the roughly 200,000 Arizonans with solar on their roofs. Under the Grid Access Charge, these families must pay a higher price for the electricity they purchase compared to their neighbors without solar energy. State and federal laws generally prohibit discrimination against solar customers; However, APS is now the only utility in the country charging all solar customers higher electricity prices.
“The Grid Access Charge is a clear attempt to discourage investment in rooftop solar,” said Kate Bowman, Interior West Regulatory Director for Vote Solar. “As Arizona families face rising energy bills and record-breaking summer heat, solar energy is one of their only options to reduce their dependence on the monopolistic utilities that have saddled them with rate increase after rate increase. By approving the Grid Access Charge, the ACC continues to seize the opportunity to choose energy independence.”
The rehearsal, which took place from October 28 through November 1, served as an opportunity for the public to express support for the repeal of the “solar tax” that affects all solar households, including existing net-metering customers and newer customers in the field of solar energy. The draft decision recommends maintaining the grid access charge, but the final vote will take place at an open meeting of the ACC on December 17.
“The rehearsal gave ratepayers and residential solar customers the opportunity to be heard and express their concerns and objections,” Bowman said. “Now that we have a fuller picture of the shortcomings inherent in the Grid Access Charge, we hope the ACC will see the need to repeal this unfair tax on solar customers.”
News item from Vote Solar
