Arizona Solar Center Blog

This winter, Citibank Research issued a report in which it concluded the utility industry is a dinosaur waiting to die.

Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Bob Stump issued a statement last week concerning the Commission’s desire for further discussions on how to count rooftop solar toward fulfilling the state’s Renewable Energy Standard (REST) requirements. The REST requires that by 2025 Arizona utilities must generate 15 percent of their overall energy portfolio from renewable sources with 30 percent of that total coming from distributed resources such as rooftop solar.

2013 was an event horizon for the solar electric industry in Arizona. The year brought acrimonious debate over net metering, as the utility industry attempted to reel-in a burgeoning rooftop solar movement that it had portrayed in a white-paper as a threat to its century-old business model and profit margins.

Americans are bargain hunters at heart. Black Friday shoppers will stand in line overnight to save a few bucks on a sale item. And for years, with the exception of a handful of early adopters who acted out of either environmental concerns or energy independence interests, most Arizona homeowners were waiting on the sidelines for the promise of a solar electron that was cheaper than conventional utility power.

This year marked the 35th anniversary of Sun Day – May 3, 1978.  President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that day as “Sun Day” and called upon the American people to observe the occasion with appropriate activities and ceremonies to demonstrate the potential of solar energy.