PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona regulators on Thursday voted toadopt a roughly $5 monthly fee for customers
of the state’s largestutility who install rooftop solar panels in a move that had the solarindustry
declaring victory over what it saw as an effort to topple itsbusiness.The Arizona Corporation Commission’s
vote came after twodays of talks and testimony from citizens and representatives on bothsides of the issue
as Arizona Public Service sought a monthly rateincrease for solar customers of $50 to $100.The
commission’sdecision was being watched by utilities nationwide. Utilities in otherstates have been pushing
similar arguments and seeking the same sorts ofrate increases, so a victory in Arizona could have created
momentumelsewhere."APS launched an unprecedented campaign spendingmillions of dollars to destroy the
rooftop solar industry and theyfailed," said Bryan Miller, president of The Alliance for Solar
Choiceand vice president of public policy for solar company Sunrun, Inc. "Thiswill allow our market to
continue to grow."APS spokesman JimMcDonald said the company was pleased that the commission
recognizedfees had to be charged for solar customers, but was disappointed at thesmall amount
approved."It will be exponentially millions ofdollars more expensive later than it is now,"
McDonald said, adding thatthere are roughly 500 new rooftop solar installations per month inArizona.
"And that will fall on the shoulders of our non-rooftop solarcustomers."The commission’s vote adds
a fee of 70 cents perkilowatt. The average home operates a 7 kilowatt system, meaninghomeowners would pay
$4.90 per month. Existing solar customers areexempt from the fee for 20 years. It takes effect for all new
customersJan. 1, 2014.APS currently has about 20,000 homes in its serviceterritory with solar panels. A
subsidiary of Pinnacle West CapitalCorp., the utility serves 1.1 million home and business customers
acrossArizona.The utility says homeowners with solar panels arebenefiting from the grid’s 24-7 power supply
but avoiding much of thecosts of maintaining power plants and transmission lines.Underthe current system,
homeowners with solar panels are able to cut theirbills by selling excess power at full retail price back to
APS in apractice called "net metering." Combined with using the power from thepanels themselves,
net metering can cut customer bills by abouttwo-thirds.APS says that effectively shifts the costs of
operating the huge power distribution grid to homes without solar.Thesolar industry says APS is worried it
will lose revenue if solarcontinues to grow, and that the company’s proposal to charge solar usersup to $100
per month would have decimated the industry by making it alosing proposition to install new solar panels.APS
had spentnearly $4 million on ads backing its proposal while the solar industrycountered with about $400,000
in spending of its own.___Associated Press writer Bob Christie contributed to this report.Copyright 2013 The
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