Reminder- Arizona tax credit information is available here: Arizona Tax Incentives
Federal investment tax information, including end of year rules, is available here: Federal Tax Incentives
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The following items have been recently added or updated:
Energy vs. Agriculture in Italy
Electrification of transportation sector = More Renewable Energy Needed
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) to provide 70% of its energy from solar and wind by 2035
Reminder- Arizona tax credit information is available here: Arizona Tax Incentives Federal investment tax information, including end of year rules, is available here: Federal Tax Incentives
Arizona Legislature
Call to Action - HB 2248 and SB 1175 would create massive regulatory uncertainty for businesses who wish to conduct business in Arizona. Call your representatives now. Click on 'Call to Action' for details.
The Arizona Legislature is in session and there are some energy bills to oppose (HB2248, SB1175, HB2737) Status of Bills: SB 1175: Corporation Commission; Electric Generation Resources This week Arizona Public Service joined in publicly opposing both HB 2248 and SB 1175. HB 2737: Corporation Commission Actions; Investigation Please continue to tell your state legislator to vote no on HB 2248, SB 1175 and HB 2737. It is imperative that we convey the negative impact passing these bills will have on the regulatory certainty that companies rely on to locate, relocate and grow. We need to protect our state’s economy, our health and our future. Email your representatives. Here is a link to find your representatives
Energy_Bills_2021
HB 2248: Corporation Commission; Electric Generation Resources
This bill has made its way through the House of Representatives and was Third Read on 3/3/20201. It received 31 ayes, 28 nays and one not voting. The vote was split along party lines.
This bill is the mirrored version of HB 2248 from the House; however, this version has not made it as far in the process and has been retained on the Senate Committee of the Whole calendar twice now.
This bill would allow any legislator to challenge any non-ratemaking decision of the Arizona Corporation Commission by filing a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s office. If found to exceed the commission’s authority, the commission will lose 10% of its budget for the year. This bill passed through the House Committee of the Whole process on 3/4/2021, however, did receive opposition from both Democratic and Republican members. The bill has not moved forward to House Third Read.
Arizona Corporation Commission
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has posted STAFF'S THIRD REVISED PROPOSED DRAFT RULES (DOCKET no. RE-00000A-18-0284) That lay out a clearer framework for Electric Utilities to report their compliance with the proposed standards for the Renewable Energy Standard, Clean Peak Standard, Distributed Renewable Storage Requirement, and Electric Vehicle Infrastructure. See the ACC Staff Report: docket.images.azcc.gov/E000004960.pdf See also Materials Presented by the Joint Stakeholders at the Commission's March 2020 Energy Rules Workshop ACC Staff has made substantial changes to the draft rules that were filed on July 2, 2019 based on feedback received at each workshop held in this matter, comments to the docket, and a review of relevant energy policies across the United States. The Nature Conservancy has submitted their report "Arizona Thrives - A Path to a Healthy and Prosperous Future" to the ACC. Interesting. APS has submitted their report, The Solar Center has slightly reformatted this report by rotating the pages for easier viewing. APS has provided two presentations to address the ACC questions. Worth a read.
Arizona Corporation Commission-POSSIBLE MODIFICATIONS TO THE ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION'S ENERGY RULES
Update July 30, 2020: When the Arizona utility regulators met to decide these issues they deadlocked over whether they should increase the state's requirements for renewable energy. It proved not possible to obtain the agreement of at least three commissioners, the meeting was adjourned. See the Arizona Republic article on this: Arizona utility regulators hit roadblock on clean-energy rules, abruptly end meeting. The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has released the Notice of Final Rulemaking Interconnection of Distributed Generation FacilitiesInterconnection of Distributed Generation Facilities document. With this rulemaking, the Commission adds a new Article 26, entitled " Interconnection. of Distributed Generation Facilities" to 14 A.A.C. 2, the Chapter containing the Commission's rules for fixed utilities, with the new Article 26 including 28 new rules. The rules for Interconnection of Distributed Generation Facilities ("DGI Rules") establish mandatory technical standards, processes, and timelines for utilities to use for· interconnection and parallel operation of different types of distributed generation ("DG") facilities; customer and utility rights and responsibilities; provisions for disconnection of DG facilities from the distribution system; specific safety requirements; more flexible standards for electric cooperatives; a reporting requirement; and a requirement for each utility to create, submit for initial approval and submit for approval periodically and when revised, and implement and comply with a Commission-approved Interconnection Manual. The first dozen pages are basically legal stuff. The document defines how an utility must review, then accept/reject/etc. an application to connect distributed generation to the utility. It defines both customer rights and utility procedures. There are a lot of utility, installer and customer comments along with the ACC staff recomendations.
Interconnection of Distributed Generation Facilities
This is a good report that provides a conceptual framework for the Statewide Transportation Electrification Plan for Arizona, including planned or proposed near-term utility actions to support the growth of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the state. The report is part of a filing on the Arizona Corporation Commission website: Arizona Statewide Transportation Electrification Plan
Arizona Statewide Transportation Electrification Plan
Municipality Info
The City of Phoenix is now (January 2020) requiring a special permit from the Fire Department for most solar systems and batteries. The fees and required plans varies with size and content. See this link for an application and details: https://www.phoenix.gov/firesite/Documents/Solar Photovoltaic OTC Bundle Rev 01-2020.pdf This is in addition to a building permit from the Planning & Development Department and must be separately obtained at a different address (150 South 12th Street) or on-line via the above link. Also noted is that residential PV permits are no longer over the counter and as of March 2020 are estimated to take 29 working days to process. Separate inspections are required. The code requirements are contained in Phoenix-Chapter 12 BESS R-3-1.pdf Also note: All Phoenix solar building permits are now electronic submittal only. Contact the Electronic Plan Review (EPR) Triage Team at 602-534-5933 or epr.support@phoenix.gov. For more information on EPR, visit us at https://www.phoenix.gov/pdd/onlineservices/electronic-plan-review. Related: PV Rapid Shutdown Signage- Phoenix .
Phoenix Fire Dept. now requires a separate permit for solar systems and batteries
At the Federal Level
New information coming soon
Utility Information
Update July 18, 2020 APS has posted a Final report on the McMicken Battery Energy Storage System Event Technical Analysis and Recommendations. See the full article: https://azsolarcenter.org/update-utility-solar-battery-fire-in-arizona
Update- Utility Solar Battery Fire in Arizona (Intro)
Arizona Public Service Co. has announced that it plans to produce all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2050 and will get 45% of its power from renewable sources like solar and wind by the end of this decade. This is a good improvement from the point of view of sustainable energy. There are still a lot of details to be worked out such as the role that distributed energy will take. Will APS APS improve its policies in regard to residential and small commercial systems. There are several good news articles and the APS press releases on this announcement: APS:APS sets course for 100 percent clean energy future Arizona Republic: APS will eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 and close coal plant ahead of schedule, CEO says The Washington Post: Arizona’s biggest utility says it will get all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2050
APS sets course for 100 percent clean energy future
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) plans to provide more than 70 percent of its power from wind and solar resources as part of a cleaner energy portfolio that will reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2035. TEP has filed its integrated resource plan (IRP) with the Arizona Corporation Commission, outlining plans for 2.5GW of new solar and wind over the next 15 years and 1.4GW of energy storage capacity as it progressively shutters its coal power stations. See the TEP Press Release for more information: https://www.tep.com/news/tep-plans-clean-energy-expansion-carbon-reduction/
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) to provide 70% of its energy from solar and wind by 2035
TEP customers intending to install a new PV system now need to check that their system can be safely installed and connected to TEP’s grid. TEP now has service areas that are saturated with PV systems where new PV systems are subject to additional review and requirements under Arizona’s Distributed Generation Interconnection Rules. TEP has prepared DG Saturation Maps showing these areas. This further described at https://www.tep.com/get-started-with-solar/ This requirement stems from the recent Distributed Generation Interconnection Rules issued by the Arizona Corporation Commission. Further information is available at:Interconnection of Distributed Generation Facilities Update: See the related article on tucson.com: New state rules limit rooftop solar systems in some Tucson neighborhoods
TEP PV Saturation Maps
Interesting Technology Updates;
Battery Storage Costs Drop Dramatically, Making Way to a New Era. A recent Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) report continues to confirm that clean electrification through batteries is advancing at impressive rates. Very interesting report: Breakthrough Batteries- Powering the Era of Clean Electrification
Breakthrough Batteries Powering the Era of Clean Electrification
Other Announcements
Caution- News leads open in new windows. Warning- These news links are automatically generated by others such as Google News and are not reviewed by the Arizona Solar Center, Inc. We are not responsible for link content.
Tesla is closing a dozen solar facilities in 9 states, including some Arizona operations.
Electric car maker Tesla's move last week to cut 9 percent of its workforce will sharply downsize the residential solar business it bought two years ago in a controversial $2.6 billion deal, according to three internal company documents and seven current and former Tesla solar employees.
The latest cuts to the division that was once SolarCity — a sales and installation company founded by two cousins of Tesla CEO Elon Musk — include closing about a dozen installation facilities, according to internal company documents, and ending a retail partnership with Home Depot that the current and former employees said generated about half of its sales.
About 60 installation facilities remain open, according to an internal company list reviewed by Reuters. An internal company email named 14 facilities slated for closure, but the other list included only 13 of those locations.
Source:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/tesla-to-close-a-dozen-solar-facilities-in-9-states-documents.html
The Third Annual Arizona Energy Futures Conference will take place Friday, October 6, 2017 at the Rio Salado Conference Center on the Tempe Campus of the Rio Salado Community College. The title for this year's conference is "Solar: A Force For Economic Development." The sessions will demonstrate how solar and distributed generation can and has created businesses, jobs, and builds local and state economies; examine policies and recognize new technologies that expand energy choice while keeping rates low; and examine what Arizona should do to be able to profit from the coming changes in energy generation and markets.. This is not a conference you want to miss. Conference Panels
Admission $35 (includes morning coffee, lunch and afternoon snack) ASU and MCCCD students with ID - Free ($15 w/lunch), use promo code AEFCSTUDENT Only 200 seats available - Preregistration required For information, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The recently completed solar array is in the shape of Target’s bullseye logo on the roof of its Phoenix distribution center and can be seen by travelers flying in and out of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. (Photo courtesy of Target)
Target installed the retailer’s largest solar rooftop array at its Phoenix distribution center, in a partnership with Chicago-based solar installer SoCore, as part of the firm’s efforts to increase its use of solar power for its energy needs.
The recently completed solar array will generate just under 3,000 megawatt hours of energy each year, providing 30 percent of the center’s yearly energy use.
“We’re excited that our distribution center in Phoenix will feature Target’s largest solar array installation with the iconic bullseye logo for all the sky to see,” said John Leisen, vice president of properties at Target. “Target is committed to enriching the communities we serve, and operating energy-efficient and sustainable buildings is one way we are following through on that pledge in Arizona.”
The new array is one of the 13 solar projects Target completed in Arizona recently, totaling 7 MWh. The retailer plans to install 10 more solar rooftops in Arizona this year. The array is the third largest solar project in the Salt River Project (SRP) territory. It joins other Target solar sites in Tucson (4 stores), Surprise, Peoria, Mesa, Sierra Vista, Glendale (2 stores) and Phoenix (2 sites).
The Arizona solar installations are part of Target’s goal to have 500 stores with rooftop solar panels by 2020, with over 350 installed projects completed already.
Target is increasingly meeting a larger portion of its energy needs with solar power. In fact, Target installed more megawatts of rooftop solar in 2016 than any other U.S. retailer, and in 2016, the company was named the No. 1 U.S. Corporate Solar Installer by Solar Energy Industries Association.
Target has many efforts for it to go green with its energy usage, investing in wind energy partnerships.
Posted April 27, 2017 by
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