Dive Brief:
- SolarCity, the largest rooftop installer in the country, could face hefty fines for failing to file timely campaign finance reports related to its support of candidates running for the Arizona State Corporation Commission, the Arizona Republic reports.
- Arizona's Citizens Clean Election Commission offered to settle complaints for $15,000, but the pro-solar group countered with an offer of $8,000 and no admission of wrongdoing. Now it appears potential fines could be 20 times the original proposed figure or up to $300,000.
- The solar industry and investor-owned utilities are in a high-stakes battle, with both sides backing a slate of candidates they believe will be favorable to their view of net metering.
Dive Insight:
Arizona's election cycles are rarely without controversy. The year 2014 was a particularly bitter battle after an acrimonious debate over the state's net metering policy as allegations of dark money circulated around two current commissioners, Doug Little and Tom Forese. Critics claimed major utility Arizona Public Service funded independent political groups supporting Little's and Forese's campaigns.
Now two years later as regulators are poised to tackle a widely-watched value of solar docket, both sides are openly pouring money into the election cycle. After SolarCity openly backed two Democrat candidates and current Commissioner Bob Burns, APS' parent company Pinnacle West jumped into the fray.
Forming a political group, AZ Coalition for Reliable Electricity, Pinnacle West is also backing Commissioner Burns as well as current Commissioner Andy Tobin and Boyd Dunn, all Republicans.
The Phoenix Business Journal estimated SolarCity has spent about $4.5 million the election thus far, with Pinnacle West spending about $1 million to form its coalition.
Interestingly, both sides are financially supporting Burns who has usually sided with the solar sector during regulatory hearings. Burns also called for utilities and the solar companies to stay out of the election in hopes of avoiding the dark money controversy from 2014, while voicing frustration with Pinnacle West for not disclosing political contributions. That led to Burns subpoenaing the company for its financial records over the 2014 election cycle.