According to Azcentral.com, Arizona’s energy regulators recently approved a $0.70 per kilowatt monthly surcharge on new solar rooftop panel users who “net meter.” Under net metering, an electric company customer who owns a renewable energy system (e.g., a solar rooftop system) receives a credit when the system produces more power than the customer uses in a billing period. In effect, the customer's meter runs backwards when the system generates excess power.
Proponents of a net metering surcharge argue that those who net meter shift certain infrastructure costs to those who do not net meter because even though they all use the same infrastructure, those who net meter are being charged less for it. Opponents contend that a surcharge could harm a key incentive to increase renewable energy usage and that solar customers actually save an electric company money by deferring the cost of new power plants and other infrastructure.
Coming after months of debate, the new charge represents a compromise between both sides. For common-size solar rooftop systems, the charge will be about $5 a month and must be used to offset any cost shifting from solar to non-solar customers. It will only apply to those who install rooftop solar systems after the end of this year.
