PHOENIX — The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has struck down a legal challenge to an extra fee exclusively for Arizona Public Service (APS) customers, leaving the fee in place.
The ACC listened to issues related to the solar fee, including whether the fee should be higher or lower and whether the fee is discriminatory to solar customers.
Watch previous reporting on this controversial fee in the player above.
ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman looked into the fee after receiving emails from people on it earlier this year.
The fee, officially known as a “Grid Access Charge,” was approved by the ACC in February and applies to an estimated 111,000 residences with solar panels, according to the commission. It was part of a package of increases approved for APS customers.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes calls the fee unconstitutional, saying it discriminates against solar customers.
The commission reviewed the fee after a legal challenge was filed earlier this year. Solar customers flooded commissioners with hundreds of emails, opposing the charge. On Tuesday, several people spoke again as the commission prepared to vote on whether to uphold the fee.
"If you take your constitutional mandate seriously, you must remove this unfair and unreasonable charge to these ratepayers,” said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter. “The Constitution simply does not allow you to impose this type of penalty."
Commissioners ultimately sided with APS, saying that no-solar users have been subsidizing solar users.
Critics of the fee say they don’t rule out further legal challenges.
