State regulators on Tuesday approved Tucson Electric Power Co.'s 2016 renewable-energy plan, minus some controversial proposals.
The Arizona Corporation Commission approved a 2016 program budget of $56.6 million, including $9.4 million for company-owned renewable-energy projects and expansion of an energy-storage pilot project. TEP and other state-regulated power companies are under a state mandate to expand their use of renewable energy to 15 percent of their power sales by 2025.
Under the 2016 plan, a monthly surcharge that pays for renewable-energy programs would increase to an average of $4.17 per month for the typical TEP residential customer, up from $3.22 per month. The cap on the surcharge for home customers is $4.76 per month.
But regulators separated out two requests from TEP that would expand its company-owned solar installations, pushing those issues off to the utility's pending rate case.
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One would expand a program launched last year in which TEP installs utility-owned solar photovoltaic systems on customers’ rooftops in exchange for fixed energy charges for 25 years — something many solar companies vehemently oppose.
The other proposal would allow TEP to launch a new community-based solar program, by which customers would essentially buy energy from offsite, TEP-owned solar installations with energy charges fixed for 10 years.
As part of the plan approved Tuesday, TEP will enter into long-term agreements with two developers for the construction of two 10-megawatt energy-storage systems.
