Court Rich, Rose Law Group co-founder and renewable energy department director, talks to The Republic about Arizona regulators cutting grid access charge for solar

(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents the Solar Energy Industries Association.)

By Ryan Randazzo | Arizona Republic

Arizona utility regulators on Wednesday continued to punish Arizona Public Service Co. with a series of decisions that cut further into the company’s profitability and ability to charge customers for things like a coal plant and for having solar on their roofs.

All told, the myriad changes the Arizona Corporation Commission approved are estimated to reduce APS’ revenue by about $125 million a year, though the exact calculation of how it will affect company finances and what customers pay on their monthly bills is yet to be done.

Commissioners plan to finalize the plans at their next meeting Nov. 2 once those calculations are available.

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“This really isn’t a solar issue,” said lawyer Court Rich, representing the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association. “This is an issue of a charge that tens of thousands of customers are paying. It’s a charge that the commission has absolutely no way of knowing if it should be charged or at what level it should be charged at. It is about as egregious of a rate-making device as you could have.”