Arizona Corporation Commission Fails Customers, Siding with Utility Profits

Today, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved Arizona Public Service’s (APS) proposed Resource Comparison Proxy (RCP) rates for 2025. The Resource Comparison Proxy (RCP) is Arizona’s solar export rate, which determines how much solar customers are paid for the electricity they send back to the energy grid. With this reduction, utilities will pay less for the energy rooftop solar provides, discouraging new installations and forcing the construction of costly power plants that all customers will pay for through higher energy bills.

Vote Solar Senior Regulatory Director, Kate Bowman, issued the following statement:  

“Today’s vote is yet another attack on solar in Arizona and a gift to profit-driven utilities at the expense of communities. By cutting the value of solar, the ACC is making it harder for Arizonans to invest in solar— just as these same households are facing unfair monthly solar fees and a phase out of the federal solar tax credit. 

Utilities earn a rate of return on every dollar they spend to build new infrastructure, including power plants, transmission lines, and distribution equipment. When people invest their own savings to install rooftop solar they help avoid costly new power plants, transmission lines, and other infrastructure costs. Despite these reduced costs, many utilities are pushing back against clean, affordable technologies like solar that threaten their bottom line.

Reducing export rates will eliminate jobs, weaken our grid, and force utilities to build new energy generation— a cost that will be passed down directly to customers. On the other hand, increasing access to solar has proven to deliver critical power during record-breaking heat and peak demand, helping keep the lights on without needing to build dirty and expensive power plants. At a time when energy bills are soaring, the Commission should be making solar more affordable, not less.”