As Arizona regulators prepare to make some key decisions in the coming months, local faith leaders are calling on them to preserve pro-solar policies.
The letter from more than two dozen religious leaders — among them reverends, pastors and rabbis — urges commissioners to “reduce” the state’s dependence on fossil fuels and move toward rooftop solar.
The commission is currently conducting a study on the value of solar that will provide a methodology for determining the costs and benefits of solar to the grid.
Tempe pastor Doug Bland is executive director of the religious alliance, Arizona Interfaith Power and Light.
“God has given us the sun as a source of energy, and it’s not polluting like fossil fuels are. So we see it as a way to tend and defend and care for the earth," Bland said.
Utility companies contend net-metering, a policy that reimburses solar customers for excess power, is a subsidy and needs to be revised.
The outcome of the solar proceeding will determine how the commission rules on major rates cases for Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power.
