On February 27, 2025, the Salt River Project (SRP) District Board held its final vote regarding its pricing proceeding. The final price plans, approved by the SRP Board, fail to fairly compensate solar customers for the energy they export to the grid, discouraging solar development and stifling the growth of clean and local energy.
Serving over 2 million customers in Arizona, SRP has long had one of the worst solar rates in the country. An elected Board of Directors makes decisions for the utility, meaning SRP operates with limited opportunities for public engagement and oversight compared to other major utilities that the Arizona Corporation Commission regulates. Leading up to the final vote, Vote Solar played a leading role in participating in the proceeding and advocating for improvements to SRP’s solar rates.
“SRP claims to be a clean energy champion, but as we have seen in the past and in today’s pricing proceeding final vote, that is not the case,” said Kate Bowman, Vote Solar’s Interior West Regulatory Director. “Rooftop solar adoption is three times higher in neighboring utility territories. This shows that SRP’s policies are discouraging families from installing solar, holding communities back from benefiting from clean, local energy.”
The SRP Board approved a new monthly service charge of $30 for a typical residential customer, a 50% increase for most homes and more than twice the average monthly fixed fee for comparable utilities. In the long run, the high monthly service charge will result in higher costs for everyone. Since a larger portion of a family’s utility bill is collected through a fixed charge, their opportunity to save money by conserving energy is limited. When families invest in energy efficiency or rooftop solar to reduce their monthly utility bills, it helps utilities avoid the need to build expensive new power plants and infrastructure, ultimately bringing down utility costs for everyone.
Additionally, SRP’s compensation for exported solar energy (3.45¢/kWh) is lower than what the utility pays to generate or purchase power, a practice that undervalues the electricity solar customers provide to the grid. Unlike other Arizona utilities that offer a 10-year locked-in solar export rate, SRP plans to update its rate annually, making it difficult for families to predict savings.
The SRP Board also committed to creating a virtual power plant (VPP) program that would compensate customers who use their battery storage to supply energy to the grid during times of high energy costs or energy shortages. The program aims to enhance the benefits of rooftop solar, but it remains uncertain if participating will outweigh SRP’s lackluster solar price plan.
“SRP is failing to embrace the clean, local energy resources that its customers want. Under these new rates, solar development among SRP customers will continue to lag far behind other utilities in Arizona,” Bowman said. “SRP had the opportunity to build a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable energy future for Arizonans. Instead, by undervaluing the power of solar, SRP is holding communities back from local economic growth, lower energy costs, energy independence and a cleaner future.”
News item from Vote Solar
