Help Stop APS from taxing solar

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

The whole Solar Business is Smoke and Mirrors, it's all been bait and switch as long as I have been around it. The whole SREC market has collapsed unless it is state sponsored. Your at the mercy of the Investors that prop up these markets until they have gained all they can and they pull out with the money and leave everyone holding the bag.

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

westbranch wrote: »

Publicly they did not mention the middle (highest cost?) option in the press releases...

Perhaps they added it later.

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

This could have effect on everyone in the nation. If one state does it, then, ...

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

In Arizona, a closely watched vote to decide solar policy's fate, WTAQ News, Nov. 14, 2013

The Arizona Commission's five-member panel kicked off a two-day hearing in Phoenix on the issue on Wednesday, listening to dozens of comments on the issue from members of the public. The commissioners, who are elected, will weigh various proposals on modifying net metering policies on Thursday before taking a final vote on the issue.

When might they vote?

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

I'm loving it!! Keeps net-metering unchanged except a new monthly fee on solar customers of only 70cents/installed kW. Less than $5 month typically. That's nothing. And the best part is it doesn't effect existing customers and those that sign up before Dec 31. I love APS deadlines - solar business will boom for the next month. We'll be booked thru next summer.

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

The way I read it was this is a foot in the door. The original amendment was $1 per KW of installed solar but was softened to appease the leasing companies. They reserve the right to come back and adjust it again before the rate case, it sounded like to me while I listened to some of the broadcast. The APS proposal was for a $50-$100 fee and this will be about $5-$10. I can see how the leasing companies would loose out on that deal. While I didn't hear the specifics of the grandfathering for existing solar installs, I assume they adopted the follow the property on the grandfathering clause.

This sort of confirms the suspicion I had that they would do something, but less than what APS wanted, quite a bit less than APS wanted actually.

My argument when the rate case comes up will be that the tariff should be change to show a line item per residence to reflect the infrastructure and maintenance cost, then reducing the the service delivery charges accordingly. Each residence receives the same benefit of being attached.

A quick search engine query shows this went nationwide with the news.

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

A letter to RUCO:

The Residential Utility Consumer Office ("RUCO") was established by the Arizona Legislature in 1983 to represent the interests of residential utility ratepayers in rate-related proceedings involving public service corporations before the Arizona Corporation Commission ("ACC" or "Commission").

I understand APS position on the the beneficial use of the grid as a storage medium for grid tie solar and somewhat agree that existing solar users reap that benefit. But solar users, like myself, have made a long term investment with the expectation of the financial stability of the net metering plan and should be treated as originally agreed upon. I do understand that a benefit does exists being attached to the grid.

My position on the benefit we call the grid is that it's true for all residential consumers, so the rate structure should reflect this. A fixed fee for infrastructure and maintenance should be made part of all residential tariffs. If this was to happen then the current method of getting this cost on a per kWh would be removed from the tariffs and only Generation per kWh should be applied. If need be a tier structure could be put in place to make this less regressive, where a base fee is applied to all residential consumers and if a consumer goes over a predetermined amount of kWh consumption then a incrementally larger fee would be applied. Then the only needed per kWh charges would be for Generation.

APS does get a benefit from solar that seems to have not been considered. They sell the back fed kWh at full retail including service delivery while really those electrons go no farther then the local transformer and are consumed very local to the generation, this eliminates any transmission loses or costs. They also don't need the additional generation infrastructure to be online that those kWh represent much of which is during peak demand periods. At year end they only are required to credit the generation avoidance amounts yet they sold the back feed kWh excess at full retail reaping the full benefit while only paying a very low generation base cost (Palo Verde) that is probably less than their average cost or spot market cost at the time of the generation.

We should make every effort to address these issues at APS's next rate case hearing in order to level the playing field. Since you are my advocate in these matters I would expect you to represent all residential consumers against the predatory practices that APS has just shown they are capable of.

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

Blackcherry04 wrote: »

I don't have a dog in this fight, don't even live in the state. Bottom line is that APS will always make all the profit margin they want and ALL the costs of Solar will be passed on to their non Solar Customers.

And how much per rate payer would that cost be, exactly?

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

The media reports the vote was 3 to 2, but which commissioners voted for and against? Because these people appear on my ballot, I would like to know which ones to vote against.

Gary Pierce
Brenda Burns
Bob Stump
Susan Bitter Smith
Bob Burns

As the ACC increases the fees and taxes on grid-tied residential PV at some amount it will be cheaper to buy batteries and go off-gird. APS's proposed fee of about $1,000 / year would buy 18 L-16 batteries from NAWS every 5 years (2,100 W at the 20 hour discharge rate and 42 kWh of storage). That puts an upper bound on how high the fees and taxes could rise.

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

Blackcherry04 wrote: »

There were at least 6 different amendments being voted on and those amendments had a bunch of moving parts. It 's hard to say what they voted for or against. Some voted yes on some amendments and some voted no and it switched back and forth until one had 3 votes. The one that passed was a compromise amendment of sorts the way I saw it.

I attended the meeting on Wednesday morning and watched the live transmission on Thursday morning. It seemed to me that the two most accepting of APS' cost shift numbers were Pierce and Brenda Burns. It wouldn't surprise me to learn they were the ones voting against the final compromise as being too easy on solar.

One thing that leapt out at me as I listened to the discussion was that "grandfathering" is quite meaningless. As it was clearly put: this Commission can't tie the hands of a future Commission so a commitment not to apply a fee to existing solar customers can be changed pretty much anytime but is especially possible when a new Commission is elected. This is a vexing problem for residential solar advocates as there is really no guarantee of how you'll be treated even in the near future notwithstanding the fact that your financial commitment may be for decades.

Re: Help Stop APS from taxing solar

sam9887 wrote: »

The problem is: they got foot in the door, and that door will never again be closed. It is quite low amount for now, but that's how the national tax started. When USA tax from physical persons first got introduced, it was maximum 3%, only for the most wealthy folks, and if you are against, just don't pay. Nobody goes to jail for skipping the tax. And look what it became now. That's exactly what will happen with APS: first they got a few pennies, then they get a few dollars, the next thing you see if that you can't afford it anymore.

It's not about fairness. APS could care less if it's fair or not. It is about controlling what others do. Think about that: they essentially made having solar power system - on your OWN roof - a PRIVILEGE, that they give or take away, all it takes is bribe the right commissioner. If they truly wanted to make it fair, they could have introduced a system when they buy for say 10% less than they sell for - THAT would have been at least resembling fair. That option was never even on the table. They don't care about fair. They care for controlling out lives.

Oh, and I appreciate how you first think about yourself, regardless that the rest are thrown under the bus. You been granted GRANDFATHER status. You are a different class now, not like the other peasants. You realize, it's not forever, right? The moment you sell house or add a couple panels, they got you, and you're back with the cattle.

In fact, the Commission agreed that grandfathering goes with the system so if you sell your house with the solar, the grandfathering goes with it. However, the "grandfathering" is meaningless as no Commission can tie a future Commission's hands.