Ray from p 14 But the company told ratepayers that a stabilizing dose of nonrenewable energy will also enable it to add more solar power to its portfolio later on. The expansion “will keep the lights on during times of peak electricity demand in the Valley and help support the variable output from SRP’s growing portfolio of renewable resources,” Hummel said. Legal Entaglements It’s not the first time that SRP has been un- der the microscope for antitrust violations. In 2015, Fremont, California-based SolarCity filed an antitrust lawsuit against SRP which was settled for an undisclosed amount three years later. Since then, applications for solar energy systems in SRP territory plummeted by 96 percent, according to Judge Miller’s recent appeals decision. The federal appeals court ruled SRP could be held accountable for violating antitrust laws by foisting overpriced elec- tricity rates on customers who own rooftop solar panels. It remains to be decided whether or not customers will be refunded. “SRP believes that the few remaining claims in the plaintiff’s allegations are without merit,” spokesperson Scott Harrelson said. The company provides electricity and water to more than 2 million Arizonans, including William Ellis, the lead plaintiff. His original complaint was dismissed in a lower court in January 2020 which is why the case was appealed. “This is a game-changer in the struggle to defend rooftop solar against utilities’ all- out war on clean, affordable, climate-resil- ient energy,” said Jean Su, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, which represented the plaintiffs. When SRP adopted its 2014 plan, which forced solar customers to connect to the grid, prices jumped 65 percent for solar customers on average and just 4 percent for non-solar customers. Randy Miller’s own rate increased by 315 percent. “I said, ‘I’m going to go fight this,’” he 16 said. “This is ridiculous. This needs to change.” The Kayenta Solar Plant on Navajo Nation. Navajo Tribal Utility Authority SRP charges solar customers an extra $12 every month merely for having solar – even though a similar charge was thrown out of a rate case at the Corporation Commission for APS. It feels arbitrary, Miller said. Customers classified this as price discrimination. The appeals court didn’t rule it out. “It’s meaningful that the court has decided, especially In Arizona, that we need to identify a better way of addressing how solar systems in residences are treated,” Congressman Tom O’Halleran told New Times. O’Halleran represents Arizona’s Congressional District 1, the state’s largest, which spans from suburban Phoenix to Flagstaff and the Navajo Nation. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and regularly introduces pro-renewable-energy legisla- tion, including the Solar Vets Act, which provides training programs for veterans to enter the solar industry in Arizona. The outspoken pro-solar politician said neither APS nor SRP schemed against his two campaigns in 2016 and 2020. He believes they share his vision for a future powered by solar energy but disagree only on the timeline. “It’s good that they’re under more scrutiny,” said Fanshaw, the solar advocate. “It influences SRP to be more accepting of the fact that customers want to go solar.” Buyer’s Remorse Even among the few Arizonans who took the plunge and invested in rooftop solar, the great majority of whom live in the Valley, there is regret. Some customers wish they stuck with a conventional utility plan. President Joe Biden recently decided to tack at least four more years onto tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on solar cells and panels from China, but with a caveat. The bifacial panels favored by utility-scale developers, which were nascent when the tariff was first imposed but now dominate large-scale projects, are exempt. That means more solar power plants servicing homes, but less energy indepen- dence. >> p 18 FEB 17TH– FEB 23RD, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
