Ariz. regulator chastises rooftop-solar industry

• Corporation Commissioner Bob Stump warned the solar industry Monday about its heated rhetoric.
• Stump's comments came as two new commissioners were sworn in to office.

The outgoing chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission on Monday warned the rooftop-solar industry to tone down its rhetoric at a ceremony swearing in two new members of the utility regulatory agency.

Bob Stump, who was replaced as chairman Monday after two years in the position, said that industries that have business at the commission "need more intellectual honesty."

The regulators have grappled in recent years with how much, if at all, utilities should subsidize renewable energy sources such as solar, and how electric companies can continue to operate when rooftop solar proliferates and cuts into their revenues.

"The pursuit of utopian energy policy is pure folly," said Stump, who has two years left in office before he terms out. "If you are taking government subsidies, you can't balk at government oversight."

Stump did not mention solar directly, though it was clear his words were directed at rooftop solar, which has fiercely debated several high-profile issues with the regulators in recent years and organized a large protest at the commission in 2013. The commissioners often have voiced their displeasure over such tactics.

Among the accomplishments Stump listed in the past two years were adding a fee averaging $5 a month on new solar users and recent decisions that allow utilities to get into the rooftop-solar business, which were opposed by rooftop-solar leasing companies.

"We need more light and less heat from the people who appear before us," Stump said. "We need more steak and less sizzle. One way to accomplish that is to put a stake through the heart of Chicken Little."

The "Chicken Little" comment likely was a reference to a meeting the regulators had just before the Christmas holiday where they reconsidered whether utilities still should be required to get a portion of their power from rooftop solar. The Corporation Commission staff believes the industry is likely to grow without the requirement.

Rooftop-solar advocates, who disagree, feared the regulators would eliminate the requirement.

"Things get misinterpreted down here," Stump said at the December meeting. "(Reconsidering) something gets termed as the coming of the apocalypse."

Newly elected commissioners Tom Forese and Doug Little were sworn in to office Monday morning. They won statewide election in November and replaced outgoing commissioners Gary Pierce and Brenda Burns on the five-member board.

Their election maintains the all-Republican makeup of the commission.

Forese and Little were opposed by the rooftop-solar industry, which campaigned against Little by calling him a lap dog to Arizona Public Service Co.

On Monday, Little and Forese kept their personal remarks free of politics, thanking their families and friends for support during the election campaign, and thanking retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who swore them in.

Little said he prays to God to give him the courage, strength and wisdom to do what is right and act in the best interests of Arizonans.

Forese said he wanted to work to make the state stronger.

"I believe our birthright is to be the capital of the Southwest," he said.

After they took their seats at the commission, Little made a motion to nominate Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith as chairwoman, replacing Stump. The commissioners voted 5-0 in favor.

During her two years on the commission, Bitter Smith's main issue has been reforming the rate-increase process for small water companies, which she said is important for encouraging investment in Arizona.