Arizona Corporation Commission approves community solar agreement

The Arizona Corporation Commission recently approved an agreement between Ventana Medical Systems Inc. and Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) that will enhance community solar in Tuscon.

The agreement allows Ventana Medical Systems Inc. to purchase between six and 10 megawatts of generating capacity from Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) under the Bright Tucson Community Power Program.

The commission approved the Bright Tuscon Community Power Program in August 2010. The program allows customers to purchase blocks of solar electricity produced at solar photovoltaic power plants constructed or owned by TEP or by a private developer that operates the plants under a Purchase Power Agreement. Each block of solar power represents 150 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electric energy per month.

As of January 2017, 1,226 residential customers and 116 non-residential customers purchased a total of 20,771 solar blocks under the program. These blocks represent a total of 3,115,650 kWh per month of energy.

The commission also approved a rate application by Southwest Gas. The commission approved a $16 million revenue increase, which will raise the average annual bill for customers by 1.09 percent. The conditions of the rate case also require the company to investigate the viability of implementing an automatic enrollment program to enroll more customers in the Low Income Ratepayer Assistance Program.