Quick take away from Thursday, December 18th's Arizona Corporation Commission hearing: The ACC approved the TEP 2015 Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) plan. On the down side, they eliminated solar hot water incentives, which reduced the price of a system by about $1,000. We at TFS believe that for higher volume hot water users, solar is the best energy source, and we are sorry to see the commission withdraw it's support.
On the plus side, the "Utility Owned DG" program to install up to 600 systems on residential roof tops under a special tariff was approved. We support this TEP program as expanding choice for solar consumers, as well as paving the way for a better grid and a more responsive utility. Look for more news to come as TEP's program is rolled out in the spring, and the selected solar contractors that will install the projects are announced.