Ads spar over APS’ views on solar bills

  New television ads that launched Monday poke fun at rooftop solar customers, equating them with ice-cream topping thieves, and support Arizona Public Service Co.’s position that solar customers should pay higher bills. In a counterargument, a new ad from major solar companies suggests that Arizonans largely oppose APS and its stance toward rooftop solar. Both ads are part of an ongoing debate between APS and the rooftop solar industry, which are at odds regarding net metering — the credits APS gives solar customers for the excess power they send to the grid. APS has asked the Arizona Corporation Commission, its utility regulator, to change its net-metering policy. The utility’s proposal would add $50 to $100 a month to the average solar customer’s bill. Solar industry officials said such dramatic changes would wipe out the financial incentives for using solar and kill their industry. The topping-thief ads siding with APS are from a non-profit called Prosper, headed by former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams. APS officials confirmed they have contributed money to Prosper but would not say how much. APS also would not say how much it has given to another pro-utility non-profit group called 60 Plus. In the television ads, children are lined up at an ice-cream truck when a man emerges from his home with his own bowl of ice cream. He approaches the truck and uses its sprinkles and chocolate syrup without paying. In response, the ice-cream man raises his prices for the children. The commercial is an analogy for solar customers, who APS and Prosper have said do not pay their fair share for using the power grid to get their electricity at night and to distribute their excess power to their neighbors. The costs of maintaining power lines, power plants and other utility infrastructure are paid for in the cost of electricity. Customers with solar panels pay very little because they get credit for their electricity and also generate much of their own. “Should these kids subsidize this man’s ice cream?” the voice-over asks. “Should you subsidize your neighbor’s solar panels?” Solar companies disagree with the assertion their customers don’t pay their fair share. They say that people who install solar are saving utilities money by reducing what they must spend on new power lines and power plants, not to mention reducing pollution. Adams said Prosper is spending between $75,000 and $100,000 on this round of advertisements, not including previous ads it has produced on the net-metering issue. On the other side of the debate, one of the groups formed by the solar industry, TUSK, or “Tell Utilities Solar Won’t Be Killed,” launched a new wave of television ads last week, highlighting a poll the group conducted that indicates the Republican corporation commissioners could face a backlash if they change the solar rules. The commissioners set utility policies and are likely to address net metering at their November meeting. The ad says that nearly 90 percent of Arizonans want the commission to maintain the current solar policies. “Arizonans are speaking,” TUSK spokesman Barry Goldwater Jr. says in the ad. “Will the Corporation Commission listen?”