Solar Love
  • Rooftop Solar
    • Energy Storage
  • Solar Panels
  • Policy
  • Research
    • Science
    • Market Research
    • Solar Perceptions & Polls

Solar Love

  • Rooftop Solar
    • Energy Storage
  • Solar Panels
  • Policy
  • Research
    • Science
    • Market Research
    • Solar Perceptions & Polls
Going SolarPVRooftop SolarSolar $Solar IncentivesSolar Policy

Arizona Not Accepting Solar Well

by Jake Richardson December 16, 2014
written by Jake Richardson December 16, 2014
Arizona Not Accepting Solar Well

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear someone say Arizona?

Heat? Sunlight?

phoenix

Well, apparently some of Arizona’s leaders don’t want solar power, even though there is plenty of sunlight year round.

If you live in the Phoenix area and want to take advantage of all the sunlight with solar power, the local utility might be against you. Reportedly, the Salt River Project has a proposed a new rate plan that increases consumer costs by $600 per year, if you have your own solar power system.

Part of the plan is to decrease the amount the utility pays when home solar systems are feeding excess electricity back to the grid. Home owners get credits when this happens that reduce their bills. If the rate is decreased, homeowners won’t get as much back and so will pay more on their utility bills.

They also want to charge a flat fee to access the grid, but all homeowners are already connected to the grid, so home solar power owners don’t deserve to pay extra. There is no point in punishing them for investing in clean, renewable electricity. Actually, they should be supported and commended.

One issue with utilities is that they have had dominance over consumers in the past and have made a lot of money due to it. Now, when solar power comes along and homeowners start acquiring the capacity to generate their own electricity, the utilities can’t be expected to like it, but some of them seem to want to preserve the status quo by hurting their customers.

Discouraging homeowners and business owners from investing in solar power — especially since the costs have dropped so dramatically —is essentially blocking progress itself. Such measures also reduce individual freedoms.

Arizona is typically a Republican state and Republicans often rail against any reduction in personal freedoms and interfering with the free market. That is exactly what some utility companies are doing when they punish home and business owners that want to generate their own electricity with solar power. At one point in the past, Arizona seemed more open to solar power and investment, but that receptivity seems to have waned.

Florida is another Republican state that is resisting solar power even though it has plenty of free sunshine. What is going on?

Image Credit: George Miquilena, Wiki Commons

ArizonaPhoenixRepublicansutilities
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterest
Jake Richardson

has been writing about solar energy for years on sites like CleanTechnica, Care2, and Planetsave. He enjoys the outdoors and is passionate about protecting life on this planet. You can connect with Jake on Google Plus.

previous post
Community Solar Power Gets Big Boost From First Solar
next post
Peer-to-Peer Financing For Residential Solar Rolled Out In Arizona

You may also like

India’s NTPC Offers Solar Project Management Services To...

June 9, 2019

Neighborhood Power Installing 10 Megawatt Solar Bifacial+Tracker Project...

November 20, 2018

EDF Renewables Commissions 110 Megawatts Of Solar In...

October 30, 2018

Maui Switches On Another 2.87 Megawatts Of Solar...

October 8, 2018

Capital Dynamics Acquires 121 Megawatt Springbok 3 Solar...

September 27, 2018

EnSync Energy Sells CAL FIRE Solar PPA Project...

August 20, 2018

Solar Bids In India Decline After Duty Reprieve

May 16, 2018

India Plans 20 Gigawatt Solar Tender To Circumvent...

May 16, 2018

Invenergy Signs PPA With Georgia Power For 160...

May 14, 2018

California Solar Mandate Bumps Solar Forecast By 14%...

May 14, 2018

Follow Me

Facebook

Recent Posts

  • Meet PVCase: A 3D Solar Design Software That Every PV Designer Should Consider

    June 12, 2019
  • Mitsui To Partner With Indian Company For Distributed Solar Projects

    June 10, 2019
  • India’s NTPC Offers Solar Project Management Services To ISA Members

    June 9, 2019
  • Equinor & Scatec Solar Complete 162 Megawatt Brazilian Solar Plant

    November 29, 2018
  • Gamesa Awarded 400 Megawatt Solar Project In Egypt

    November 29, 2018
  • Facebook

@2019 - All Right Reserved solarlove.org


Back To Top