Dive Brief:

• At a meeting to swear in two new members of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), former chair Bob Stump called out the state's rooftop solar industry for what he sees as excessive rhetoric and disingenuous policy debate.
• Doug Little and Tom Forese were sworn in to four year terms on the commission. As a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, Forese served as Chairman of the Commerce Committee. Little joins the ACC from the software industry.
• The commission voted to name Susan Bitter Smith as Chair. She was elected to the commission in 2012 and her term as chair will run two years. 

Dive Insight:

ACC Commissioner Bob Stump, who stepped down as chair but still has two years left on his term, had some pointed things he didn't say to the state's rooftop solar industry.

The Arizona Republic notes that while Stump never specifically mentioned rooftop solar, he made a series of veiled comments almost certainly intended for that industry. "The pursuit of utopian energy policy is pure folly," The Republic quoted Stump. "If you are taking government subsidies, you can't balk at government oversight."

Under Stump's leadership Arizona became the first state with a fee for rooftop solar.

Bitter Smith will now chair the commission for two years. Since taking office, she has focused on working on policy reforms to reduce rate shock and to allow companies to conduct infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. She served two six-year terms as an elected member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board of Directors, and served the last four as President of the Board.