Solar fee faces courtroom fight in Arizona

By Niina H. Farah | 02/03/2025 06:54 AM EST

Solar advocacy groups are challenging a grid access charge approved last year by the Arizona Corporation Commission.

An aerial view of a solar array is seen in New York.

Vote Solar and others allege that a grid access charge approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission last year violated both state and federal law. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Solar advocacy groups are heading to court in Arizona to oppose a utility fee they claim is unfairly raising electricity costs for customers with rooftop solar panels.

Vote Solar and others allege that a grid access charge approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) last year violated both state and federal law. The state court lawsuit, filed last week, is the culmination of a yearslong dispute over the process for establishing the charge, which was first introduced by the utility Arizona Public Service and reaffirmed by the commission last December.

Installing solar panels is one of the only options for Arizona residents to slash their rising energy costs, said Kate Bowman, Vote Solar’s Interior West regulatory director. But she said the new, solar-specific fee would undermine the ability of homeowners and businesses to invest in clean energy.

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“By approving the Grid Access Charge, the ACC undermines Arizonans’ right to choose energy independence,” Bowman said in a statement last week. “We will keep fighting this discriminatory treatment until all Arizonans have equal access to clean energy resources and fair utility rates.”

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