Phoenix commissioners recently voted to require regulated electric utilities to generate 15% of the total megawatts sold from renewable resources by 2025.
The commission's renewable energy standards allow utilities to use solar, wind, biomass, biogas, geothermal and other similar technologies to generate clean energy to power Arizona's future. If a utility does not meet the standard, it can apply for a waiver and go through a hearing, but the commission may still assess a penalty for noncompliance.
In addition to utility-owned projects, such as Tucson Electric Power's large solar installation in Springerville, Ariz., the commissioners are also requiring a growing percentage of the total resource portfolio to come from distributed generation – residential or non-utility owned installations. The distributed energy requirement starts at 5% of the total portfolio in 2007 and grows to 30% of the total renewable mix after 2011.
