Solar Is Here

14 November 2013 Dear commissioners, In this email, I present 5 strong reasons to oppose any current proposal regarding the APS request to alter net metering in Arizona (Docket # E-01345A-13-0248). 1) APS’ OWN FILING SHOWS SOLAR CUSTOMERS SUBSIDIZE THE GRID Attachment CAM_3 (pp 7-12) of the original July APS net-metering filing , E-01345A-13-0248,  includes 6 APS-cherry-picked sample bills from residential customers before and after installing solar. In all of these “illustrative examples”, the solar arrays generate more on-peak electricity than the house consumes - both in winter and summer. That means the house is sending net on-peak electricity to the grid. And in all of these “illustrative examples”, the house is generating less off-peak electricity than it consumes. That means the house is receiving net off-peak electricity. All 6 of these example solar customers are trading, one-for-one, their own valuable on-peak hours for APS’ less-valuable off-p...

13 November 2013 Click Read More for the transcript.

08 November 2013 Arizona Ratepayers’ Primary Interests A summary of findings from 5 different public surveys by Jamie Michael Kern In the recent APS Technical Conferences, the idea of “cross-subsidization” seems to have been assigned a default negative bias. Such a bias may be true in other markets but is not so in Arizona. According to multiple surveys of Arizonans, ratepayers overwhelmingly support the idea of cross-subsidization – in the form of increased rates – in order to develop renewable energy sources. Their explicit interests are summarized below. It must be noted that accommodating ratepayer interests is more than just adding a “societal benefit” in electricity valuations; it is and should be the primary driver of utilities. The Arizona Corporation Commission’s current Strategic Plan lists its primary mission as:  “exercise exclusive state regulatory authority over public service corporations (public utilities) in the public interest ”. As suc...