Advanced Energy Perspectives

Note: Several links in this article reference documents housed in Advanced Energy United's (previously Advanced Energy Economy)'s energy policy software, Insight Engine™. To enhance your reading experience, click here and sign up for a free 14-day trial of Insight Engine™.

Three months ago, the two largest investor-owned electric utilities in Arizona submitted proposals to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) that would allow them to own residential solar systems and, effectively, become players in Arizona’s competitive distributed solar market. The proposals sparked a controversy over whether monopoly utilities should be allowed to own rooftop solar. Now the ACC Staff has recommended that the Commission accept one of the proposals. If the ACC accepts the staff recommendation, it could open the door for more utility-owned distributed generation (DG) in Arizona.

Note: Several links in this article reference documents housed in Advanced Energy United's (previously Advanced Energy Economy)'s energy policy software, Insight Engine™. To enhance your reading experience, click here and sign up for a free 14-day trial of Insight Engine™.

Arizona has some of the most abundant solar resources in the country. The state’s renewable energy standard (RES) of 15 percent by 2025 has helped Arizona generate more solar power than any state in the country save California, and the most solar energy per capita. Rooftop solar is particularly popular in Arizona because of the 30 percent distributed generation (DG) carve-out, half of which is reserved for residential rooftop solar. The thriving solar market in Arizona has benefited from a combination of the state’s unique RES and robust competition among many solar companies active in the state.