Last week the Arizona Corporation Commissioners voted on 18 matters, including electric and water utilities, railroad, and securities items. Highlights from the meeting include: 

APS Authorized to Include a Third Party Storage Contract in their Power Supply Adjustor

The Commission authorized Arizona Public Service Company (APS) to include third party storage costs in its Power Supply Adjustor. APS issued an all-source RFP and the selected project was the most competitive proposal. The results of an all-source RFP to establish a combination solar and battery project is an important step in enhancing Arizona’s efforts to increase renewable energy production. APS selected Sun Streams Expansion to construct, own, operate, and maintain a 300 MW solar plus 300 MW battery storage facility near the Palo Verde Generating Station. The project is expected to be in service June 1, 2025. Commissioner Myers’ amendment, which was adopted by the Commission, enhances reporting requirements to gather data on the use of battery technology. Storage technology complements the intermittency of renewable resources and further strengthens the reliability of Arizona’s electric grid.

All documents related to this agenda item can be found in the Corporation Commission's online docket https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number E-01345A-22-0316

Fuel Costs Borne by APS to be Repaid Across 2 Years

The Commission rendered a decision that had been postponed due to the pandemic by prior Commissions to address a multimillion-dollar balance for APS fuel supplies. The Commission voted 4-1 to approve a two-year recovery mechanism that minimizes the impact to APS customers to clear the outstanding balance with an estimated $12.10 per month bill increase on the average home using 1,050 kWh/mo.

All documents related to this agenda item can be found in the Corporation Commission's online docket https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number E-01345A-22-0297

DSM Aggregation Tariff to be Refiled

In another APS matter, namely its application to seek approval for a Distributed Demand-Side Resource Aggregation Tariff, the Commission approved 5-0 to allow APS to re-file an application by October 1, 2023 working in concert with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The goal is to propose a tariff that does not shift costs from the DSM program to other customers. This groundbreaking and innovative pilot program will leverage customer-sited technologies like batteries and demand-side resources to help reduce load on the grid at peak times, enhance grid resiliency and reliability, compensate participating customers for their energy storage, and ultimately lower costs for all APS ratepayers. Safeguards are now in place to ensure there's no cost shift to any other rate-paying customers.

All documents related to this agenda item can be found in the Corporation Commission's online docket https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number E-01345A-22-0143

EPCOR Water Arizona Inc. Decision Lowers Surcharge

The Commission approved a decrease in the System Improvements Benefits Mechanism (SIB) from $0.48 to $0.31 per customer per month for utility service to Agua Fria, Anthem, Mohave, Sun City, and Sun City West wastewater districts.

All documents related to this agenda item can be found in the Corporation Commission's online docket https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number WS-01303A-16-0145

Commission orders Automata FX Ltd and Joseph Nemeth to Cease and Desist and Pay Restitution

Automata and Nemeth purported to offer a brokerage platform for automated trading on the foreign exchange market. Between October 18, 2016 to and May 28, 2021; Automata offered and sold at least $4,766,465.85 worth of what it called "managed accounts" which would trade investor funds using proprietary algorithms that targeted 30% profit every quarter. They are held liable for securities registration and fraud violations, with the Commission ordering respondents to pay restitution in the amount of $4,766,465.85 and an administrative penalty of $100,000. Funds collected will be distributed to the investors who were defrauded by Automata.

All documents related to this agenda item can be found in the Corporation Commission's online docket https://edocket.azcc.gov and entering docket number S-21156A-21-0165