On February 27, 2025, the Salt River Venture (SRP) District Board held its remaining vote concerning its pricing continuing. The ultimate worth plans, permitted by the SRP Board, fail to pretty compensate photo voltaic prospects for the vitality they export to the grid, discouraging photo voltaic improvement and stifling the expansion of unpolluted and native vitality.
Serving over 2 million prospects in Arizona, SRP has lengthy had one of many worst photo voltaic charges within the nation. An elected Board of Administrators makes selections for the utility, which means SRP operates with restricted alternatives for public engagement and oversight in comparison with different main utilities that the Arizona Company Fee regulates. Main as much as the ultimate vote, Vote Photo voltaic performed a number one position in taking part within the continuing and advocating for enhancements to SRP’s photo voltaic charges.
“SRP claims to be a clear vitality champion, however as now we have seen prior to now and in immediately’s pricing continuing remaining vote, that isn’t the case,” mentioned Kate Bowman, Vote Photo voltaic’s Inside West Regulatory Director. “Rooftop photo voltaic adoption is thrice larger in neighboring utility territories. This exhibits that SRP’s insurance policies are discouraging households from putting in photo voltaic, holding communities again from benefiting from clear, native vitality.”
The SRP Board permitted a brand new month-to-month service cost of $30 for a typical residential buyer, a 50% enhance for many properties and greater than twice the common month-to-month fastened price for comparable utilities. In the long term, the excessive month-to-month service cost will lead to larger prices for everybody. Since a bigger portion of a household’s utility invoice is collected by way of a set cost, their alternative to save cash by conserving vitality is restricted. When households put money into vitality effectivity or rooftop photo voltaic to scale back their month-to-month utility payments, it helps utilities keep away from the necessity to construct costly new energy vegetation and infrastructure, in the end bringing down utility prices for everybody.
Moreover, SRP’s compensation for exported photo voltaic vitality (3.45¢/kWh) is decrease than what the utility pays to generate or buy energy, a apply that undervalues the electrical energy photo voltaic prospects present to the grid. Not like different Arizona utilities that provide a 10-year locked-in photo voltaic export charge, SRP plans to replace its charge yearly, making it tough for households to foretell financial savings.
The SRP Board additionally dedicated to making a digital energy plant (VPP) program that will compensate prospects who use their battery storage to provide vitality to the grid throughout instances of excessive vitality prices or vitality shortages. This system goals to reinforce the advantages of rooftop photo voltaic, however it stays unsure if taking part will outweigh SRP’s lackluster photo voltaic worth plan.
“SRP is failing to embrace the clear, native vitality assets that its prospects need. Beneath these new charges, photo voltaic improvement amongst SRP prospects will proceed to lag far behind different utilities in Arizona,” Bowman mentioned. “SRP had the chance to construct a extra resilient, equitable, and sustainable vitality future for Arizonans. As a substitute, by undervaluing the ability of photo voltaic, SRP is holding communities again from native financial development, decrease vitality prices, vitality independence and a cleaner future.”
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