Arizona Utility Articles
The policies of the various electric utilities in Arizona vary, select the utility that serves your area.APS
APS to eliminate the “grid access charge” for residential solar customers
On November 2, the Arizona Corporation Commission voted its final approval to eliminate Arizona Public Service (APS) company’s “grid access charge,” ending a decade-old unfair practice of charging residential solar customers a discriminatory fee. The grid access fee, a monthly fee based on $0.93 per kW-dc of generation. This fee averaged about $100 per year per solar customer. The Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association (AriSEIA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) argued that the fee unfairly targeted solar customers under the pretense that it cost more to provide them with electricity.
APS is also reducing the "on peak" hours for time-of-use electricity plans eventually will shift to 4 to 7 p.m. Today, those rate plans use on-peak hours of 3 to 8 p.m. APS said it could take 10 months to implement the change.
The changes regulators made to APS revenue will affect bills starting in December, but the company said it would take several months to adjust the new on-peak hours on time-of-use energy plans.
APS- Now Available: Residential Battery Pilot Program
Arizona Public Service Co. has introduced a Residential Battery Pilot Program, starting October 4, 2021.
The pilot will be available to APS residential customers who install residential battery systems, enroll in a TOU (Time of Use) or TOU-plus-demand service plan and commit to discharging their batteries during on-peak periods. (Note: Rate requirements are waived for customers on grandfathered solar rates.) The pilot will help APS learn about battery performance in a variety of conditions and how batteries may create value for customers through improved management of energy demand at their residence and help reduce stress on the electric grid.
SRP
SRP and NREL Launch One of the Largest-to-Date Home Energy Storage Studies (Now Closed)
Note: this SRP program is now complete, the last date for applying was July 29, 2021
October 25, 2018 (updated 8/19/19)- SRP customers in central Arizona are participating in one of the largest energy storage studies, helping NREL and Salt River Project (SRP) identify the value that battery energy systems will have for customers and utilities.
With home battery energy systems (BES) gathering market momentum, residents and utilities worldwide are weighing the benefits of storage. To advance understanding of this emerging technology, one utility in central Arizona is collaborating with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to launch one of the largest BES studies to date for up to 4,500 of its customers.
Salt River Project (SRP), a major utility in one of the sunniest locations in the United States, is providing qualified customers financial incentives to purchase a residential battery system. Customers can be selected to participate in a research study, which provides a large-scale analysis of the benefits and impacts of BES technologies. NREL will assist the utility throughout the 3-year program by evaluating battery technologies and interpreting data about customer battery use.
The initial phase of the project will use research capabilities only found at NREL, including the Energy Systems Integration Facility’s high-performance computing to manage the millisecond-to-minute resolution data, and advanced battery testing in the Thermal Test FacilityPDF. Subsequent phases might use data from customer battery use and BES performance, allowing NREL researchers to develop modeling and simulation tools to assess the customer benefits and distribution network impacts of BES.
With energy storage technologies gaining importance, this study is a landmark effort to understand the value that BES technologies will have to both customers and utilities. The breadth and resolution of data, combined with the modeling and scenario analysis performed by NREL, will constitute a critical look at the foreseeable impacts of the storage industry.
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Arizona Solar Center note on the above: SRP has a Battery Storage Incentive program that as of mid-August 2019 had 3645 reservations remaining. Of course, this only for SRP customers. Customers can get up to $3,600 (doubled effective 5-1-19) from SRP for adding a battery storage system to their homes. It is not necessary to have a PV system. Customers can call the SRP Connected Home team at (602) 236-4448 or see https://www.srpnet.com/electric/home/batterystorage/default.aspx. The Arizona Solar Center would like SRP customer feedback on this project for a future article, if you take part and would like to share your experience, drop us a note at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
TEP
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) to provide 70% of its energy from solar and wind by 2035
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/
TEP PV Saturation Maps- Problem removed
TEP has upgraded their distribution system and as of December 7, 2021 the following no longer applies. Remaining posted for historical reasons.
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