Dive Brief:
- The Arizona Solar Industries Association and The Alliance for Solar Choice (TASC) want the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and the Arizona attorney general to investigate spending by Arizona Public Service (APS) through two nonprofit political groups on a TV ad campaign to discredit solar power.
- The groups want to know whether utility ratepayers are picking up the tab for the anti-solar efforts of groups 60 Plus Association and Prosper.
- APS has denied the allegations, saying the money came from shareholders in Pinnacle West Capital Corp., its parent company, and not ratepayers.
- This comes in the wake of recent allegations that consultants pitched APS on a $4.3 million campaign to subvert and alter the make-up of the ACC.
Dive Insight:
"APS’s latest dark money ad literally compares its own customers to middle-aged men stealing ice cream from children, yet it comes after months of APS lying to the public and its regulator about funding these ads. APS seems to be having a brain freeze when it comes to telling the truth," Bryan Miller, VP of public policy for Sunrun and president of TASC, told Utility Dive. "What's more, this isn't specific to Arizona. APS is executing on EEI's [Edison Electric Institute] national playbook. What does EEI have to say about APS' actions?"
