The Tucson Solar Co-op is free to join with no obligation to buy anything.
After years of wrangling, the Arizona Corporation Commission in September finally approved new rates for residential and small-business customers of Tucson Electric Power Co. who install rooftop solar arrays, cutting credits for excess power generation and imposing higher meter fees on new solar customers (the changes do not apply to customers who had solar before the ACC decision).
The decision was in line with a statewide policy the ACC adopted in late 2016 to end so-called net metering, which allowed solar customers to get full retail credit for their excess generation.
TEP also won state approval for a power line needed to connect its planned biggest solar farm and battery array yet, a 100-megawatt array and 30MW battery system NextEra Energy Resources is building south of the city along South Wilmot Road.
