Hours before energy regulators approved a small surcharge on residential solar this month, the head of a little-known consumer advocacy group played wingman to the solar industry’s lawyer.

Negotiators quietly forged 11th-hour net metering compromise

As it turned out, Arizona’s battle over solar net metering wasn’t what it seemed.

For months, Arizona’s largest utility provider and the solar industry have waged a public relations war over the future of the state’s solar energy incentives.

That fight now moves to the Arizona Corporation Commission, as the energy regulator formally begins consideration of opposing proposals from each side.

A commentary in the June 7 issue of the Arizona Capitol Times “Utility customers have option of installing rooftop solar systems,” by executives from the rooftop solar industry presents a distorted and self-serving view of Arizona’s solar industry.

A recent guest opinion in the June 7 issue of the Arizona Capitol Times "Utility customers have option of installing rooftop solar systems,” authored by the CEOs of several California rooftop solar companies, got only two things right. One was the title.

For an American energy sector that hasn’t changed much in a century, rooftop solar represents consumer choice, competition, and innovation. This is the key to understanding the increasingly anti-solar actions by APS.

Arizona households and businesses can cut electricity use by 21 percent and save $7.3 billion by 2020 if utilities ramp up energy-efficiency incentives, a public policy group said Tuesday.

Mining companies and other businesses will be allowed to keep environmental studies secret, even if they detail possible pollution problems, under industry-backed legislation that gained final House approval Monday. Under the measure headed to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, environmental audits generally could not be used as evidence in civil cases.

The House Government Committee today approved a bill that would give the Legislature and governor final say over new rules and rule changes adopted by the Arizona Corporation Commission.

A Phoenix residential solar-energy project could be replicated around the country, said Valley business and government representatives in a meeting Wednesday with Energy Secretary Steven Chu.