Unprecedented power outages begin in California as winds bring critical fire danger; rooftop solar demand spike likely, says Rose Law Group co-founder Court Rich

By Joseph Serna, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Patrick McGreevy | Los Angeles Times In an unprecedented move, Pacific Gas & Electric early Wednesday began shutting off power to about 800,000 customers across Northern California in an attempt to avoid wildfires caused by winds damaging power equipment. The first power cutoffs, expected to affect 513,000 customers, began shortly after midnight in several counties around Sacramento, …

EPCOR proposes big hook-up fee increases to pay for infrastructure; ‘not unexpected’ says Court Rich, Rose Law Group co-founder

By Joey Chenoweth | San Tan Valley Sentinel New hook-ups to the Johnson Utilities water system will cost more than three times as much as current rates should regulators approve an application for an increase. EPCOR Water, the interim manager for the embattled Pinal County utility, sent an application to the Arizona Corporation Commission requesting a significant increase in hook-up …

[OPINION] Rose Law Group Co-Founder Court Rich in AZCentral: Here’s the question no one is asking about APS’s secret spending

Opinion: Why did APS funnel money to support the son of a regulator when he ran for secretary of state? The Corporation Commission needs to ask. By Court Rich, opinion contributor, senior partner, Rose Law Group  (Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussion purposes only.) What struck me most about the Arizona Corporation Commission’s questioning of APS CEO Don …

Solar competition fight heats up at ACC; utilities stalling renewable energy projects

Rose Law Group Reporter Staff The fate of utility-scale solar energy competition in Arizona will be left to an administrative law judge after three days of hearings held by the Arizona Corporation Commission. The hearings also raised concerns that the Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power utilities are not moving forward with new rural solar and renewable energy projects …

Court Rich, Rose Law Group co-founder and senior partner, talks to Phoenix Business Journal about developer plan for 1,000 homes in area dealing with water, utility issues

By Angela Gonzales | Phoenix Business Journal A Scottsdale residential developer is planning a 1,000-lot community in the San Tan Valley area which had been at the center of a recent controversy over water infrastructure upgrades within the Johnson Utilities LLC service area. Aread Management Inc. and Varde Partners paid $8.7 million for a 290-acre parcel in San Tan Valley, according …

Rose Law Group Co-Founder Court Rich in Arizona Republic on how Chevron executive is secretly pushing anti-electric car effort in Arizona2

By Ryan Randazzo | Arizona Republic A California lobbyist for Chevron Corp. is urging retirees of the oil company in Arizona to oppose electric-car policies here, saying the vehicles are too expensive for most people and should not be promoted. A handful of people who either retired from Chevron or from Unocal, which Chevron acquired in 2005, have used the …

PURPA amendment stalls in Arizona; report features tweeted comment from Rose Law Group Co-Founder and Director of Renewable Energy, Court Rich

By Tim Sylvia | PV Magazine An amendment to Arizona’s implementation of PURPA rules which would have set minimum contract lengths to 15 years failed to pass last night, and the act now has one last chance to pass before the investment tax credit drops down, and opportunities being to dry up. Last night, a proposed amendment before Arizona regulators …

ACC Staff recommends abandoning needed water interconnection between Queen Creek and Johnson Utilities

Rose Law Group Reporter staff In a letter filed late yesterday, Arizona Corporation Commissions (ACC) Staff took a surprising position urging abandonment of ongoing efforts to interconnect Town of Queen Creek’s water system to the struggling Johnson Utilities’ system. Interconnecting Queen Creek’s water to Johnson’s pipes has been the plan ever since regulators implemented a moratorium limiting builders to one …

Rose Law Group Co-Founder, Senior Partner, and Director of Renewable Energy, Court Rich, talks to Daily Star about utilities buying solar

By David Wichner |Arizona Daily Star Arizona regulators are looking at changing decades-old rules requiring utilities to buy power from certain renewable energy facilities, amid a simmering dispute between utilities including Tucson Electric Power Co. and some solar project developers. At least one regulator says Arizona stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars worth of solar energy projects unless …

Billion-dollar bets on electric vehicles await payoff; regulators should not hamper growth of electric vehicles, says Court Rich, Rose Law Group Senior Partner

By Joann Muller | Axios If carmakers have any hope of making money on electric vehicles, they’ll need to re-think how they design and sell them, a new McKinsey study suggests. Why it matters: Automakers will pour $255 billion into EVs by 2023 but are resigned to losing money on them for the foreseeable future — an expected outcome of …