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The Arizona State Legislature adjourned at 4:54 pm on 06/30/2021. For a total of 171 days of session, tied for the third longest session with 1993. This year, 1,774 bills were introduced, the legislature passed 473 of those bills (27%), as of 7/1/2021 the governor has signed 412 of the bills and vetoed 27 bills. This means that 34 bills remain on his desk where he has 10 days (excluding Sundays) to sign, veto or allow the bill to become law without his signature. All legislation has an effective date of September 29, 2021 unless otherwise specified within the legislation.
This year, AriSEIA actively engaged in a handful of legislative efforts that would have directly impacted the Solar Energy Industry. HB 2248 Corporation Commission; Electric Generation Resources – Opposed with Lobbying Sponsored by Representative Gail Griffin – R The bill would remove the ability of the Arizona Corporation Commission to establish energy policy and restrict the Commission to rate-making authority. The legislation was aimed solely at limiting the Commission's ability to act on the Clean Energy Rules package as a retroactive date of June 30, 2020 was included in the legislation. Though this bill made its way through the House of Representatives and did receive a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee, AriSEIA lobbied in opposition to the legislation and it was ultimately held, receiving no further legislative action in the Senate Rules Committee, thus died. SB 1175 Corporation Commission; Electric Generation Resources – Opposed with Lobbying Sponsored by Senator Sine Kerr – R This bill is the mirrored version of HB 2248. The bill would remove the ability of the Arizona Corporation Commission to establish energy policy and restrict the Commission to rate-making authority. The legislation was aimed solely at limiting the Commission's ability to act on the Clean Energy Rules package as a retroactive date of June 30, 2020 was included in the legislation. In the Senate, AriSEIA lobbied against this legislation and though this bill did pass through the Senate Natural Resources, Water and Energy Committee, it ultimately failed to progress through the legislative process and died. HB 2737 Corporation Commission Actions: Investigation – Opposed with Lobbying Sponsored by Representative Jacqueline Parker – R This bill would have allowed any legislator to challenge any non-ratemaking decision of the Arizona Corporation Commission by filing a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s office. If found to exceed the Commission’s authority, the commission would lose 10% of its budget for the year. This bill passed through the House Committee of the Whole process on, however, did receive opposition from both Democratic and Republican members, and ultimately failed in the process. As a member of AriSEIA, we fight for the continued protection of the Solar Energy Industry and your livelihood. We understand that day in and day out your focus is on your business. That is where AriSEIA steps in. As a member organization, we focus on your behalf and champion the passage of pro-solar energy policies and regulations and defeat measures that present harm and detriment to the industry. But we couldn’t do it without you. Your responsiveness to Calls for Action when asked to ask and your continued commitment to AriSEIA allows for us all to thrive. If you know of an industry partner or solar company that you believe could benefit from membership in AriSEIA, please pass along their information to me at Nicole@AriSEIA.org so that I can follow up with them and continue to build on our associations efforts to bring Arizona to the forefront of the Solar Energy Industry
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 Twenty organizations applauded a vote today by Arizona Corporation Commissioners requiring utilities to be 100% carbon-free by 2050 and meet benchmarks along the way. The bipartisan decision also established a new energy efficiency policy to help customers save money on their electricity bills.
Click here to read the press release about this historic advancement for Arizona!  For many of us, November 3 was a date we were excited to have come and go. As a political wonk, often times Election Day has been referred to as my Olympics. And as of this morning, two-days post-election, we are still awaiting the Presidential outcome, Arizona has a new Arizona State Senator, and a flip of the Arizona State House of Representatives to blue appears to not have happened.
 Recently, AriSEIA invited all six Arizona Corporation Commission candidates to participate in our candidate series. This series was an opportunity for members of AriSEIA and the public to hear directly from the candidates to gain a better understanding of their views on the solar and renewable energy industry in Arizona. Ultimately, three out of the six who were invited chose to participate in the series: former Commissioner Bill Mundell, Tolleson Mayor Anna Tovar, and former Cave Creek Councilwoman Shea Stanfield.
 This week, the Arizona Corporation Commission heard UNS, TEP and APS’s application for a revised Rate Rider Resource Comparison Proxy (RCP). The RCP is a proxy for the avoided cost of providing electrical service that results when a distributed generator exports power to the grid. An RCP rate is determined for each tranche of new Distributed Generation customer effective October 1 of each year without prorations. Additionally, as established in the Value and Cost of Distributed Generation, the RCP rate may not be reduced by more than 10 percent each year.
 Dear members,
AriSEIA will be hosting a virtual discussion on the Interconnection of Distributed Generation Facilities on August 27, 2020 at 2:00 pm. This is a member only engagement designed to solicit input and discuss issues related to the utilities’ released Interconnection Manual filings. These Manuals will have a large impact on the day to day operations of solar installers, and we are seeking input from members on complications with interconnection that may be solved in the manuals.  Last week, Arizona held their Primary Elections. As suspected, a number of elections were determined in the race, but there were also some surprises and upsets. After all the ballots were counted, two incumbents in the Senate and one incumbent in the House will not be returning.
 I wanted to provide a quick update on the legislative session. On May 26, 2020 the Fifty-fourth Legislature – Second Regular Session adjourned Sine Die at 11:21 am. The total days of session were 135 days, 1,607 bills were introduced, 90 were passed by the legislature, as to date zero bills have been vetoed and 58 bills have been signed by Governor Doug Ducey.
By way of background, the legislature adjourned on March 23, 2020, as a result of increased concerns related to COVID-19. The initial adjournment was to run until April 15, 2020, but with the governors Stay Home – Stay Safe Executive Order, the adjournment was extended until April 30, 2020.  Uncertainty is a word we're all familiar with in our current times. As a trade association, we represent our members' interests at all levels of government. As our parent organization SEIA continues to fight for efforts at the national level, we need to remember this is a united effort.
In honor of Earth Day, SEIA requested that we continue to urge Congress to take swift action to stem the devastating impacts of COVID-19 and to support the recovery and growth of the solar industry while advancing the critical principles of Earth Day. Though Earth Day has officially come and gone, the need to advance the message still remains. Please tell your member of Congress that we must #SaveSolarJobs from COVID-19 in order to protect the economy and our 250,000 American solar workers, while continuing the fight against climate change. Here's the April SEIA COVID Fact Sheet for more information.  The Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association (AriSEIA) is seeking an experienced and enthusiastic candidate to serve as Executive Director. AriSEIA is a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade association representing the solar and storage industry, solar-friendly businesses, and others interested in advancing solar and storage technologies in Arizona. The group's focus is on education, professionalism and promotion of public policies that support deployment of solar technologies and renewable energy job growth and creation.
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The Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association (AriSEIA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade association representing the solar and storage industry, solar-friendly businesses, and others interested in advancing solar and storage technologies in Arizona. The group's focus is on education, professionalism and promotion of public policies that support deployment of solar technologies and renewable energy job growth and creation. |
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