A state appeals court in Arizona has not allowed Arizona Public Service (APS) to charge an additional fee to customers with solar panels. KJZZ reported the news on Oct. 30.
The fee was approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission, the state’s utility regulator, as part of APS’s 2024 rate increase. The company was allowed to charge customers with solar panels an extra $2 to $3 a month. APS said the fee covered the “additional costs” of supplying power to those homes when panels fail or produce too little energy.
The appeals court blocked the fee as early as June. It found then that regulators had not given opponents of the fee a chance to present their arguments before it was approved. The court also said APS had not presented evidence that customers with solar panels were responsible for the higher costs.
After that ruling, the case went back to the commission. According to KJZZ, however, the court found that in the new proceeding, too, the commission did not give opponents a “full and fair opportunity” to challenge the fees. The court pointed, among other things, to a decision by the administrative law judge who presided over the hearing. The judge cut off the testimony of an economist who was a witness for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. That office opposed the fee.
The ruling invalidates the additional fee. The commission may, however, hold another rehearing and give opponents a better opportunity to present their position.
An APS spokesperson said the company intends to appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court. He said APS wants additional review to ensure “appropriate rates” for individual customers with rooftop photovoltaic systems.
Source: KJZZ
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