 Update September 2005: In February 2001, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) adopted a renewable portfolio standard [known as the Environmental Portfolio Standard (EPS)] requiring that utilities derive a portion of their electricity through renewable sources - topping out at 1.1 percent of sales in 2007. Sixty percent of the standard in 2007 was supposed to be met by solar energy. Since the EPS goals were not being met, in August 2005 the ACC voted to change and expand the program. The ACC set a higher renewables requirement for the state's utilities, raised the rates that utilities may charge to administer the program and dropped the mandatory solar energy requirements of the previous program. According to the ACC’s new plan, the state’s utilities must procure 15% of the state’s electricity from renewable resources by 2025 and submit to an annual review. The solar requirements have been dropped and a new requirement for local distributed generation was added. The ACC voted to require that 30% of the EPS requirement be met by local onsite renewables installed by homes and businesses. The ACC will issue a new draft regulation sometime in Fall 2005. A final rule could be issued by early 2006. More: The New Rules Project - http://www.newrules.org/ |