Proposal “not just or reasonable or in the public interest”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2020
Contact: Katie Laning Niebaum
katie@arkansasadvancedenergy.com
(501) 537-0190
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – AAEA released the following statement in response to the Arkansas Public Service Commission’s order issued this week denying Entergy Arkansas’ proposal of a new subscription-based solar offering exclusively for customers that are either government entities or non-tax entities:
“Entergy’s proposal sought to reduce net metering service contracts made possible by Act 464 of 2019, to attack both the regulatory agenda of the Commission and the clear intent of the General Assembly. The proposal was contrary to the public interest and rested on the assumption that a monopoly utility should be able to use regulatorily approved tariffs to undercut the emergence of competitive markets. AAEA is dedicated to growing Arkansas’s economy and workforce through the expanded utilization of advanced energy technologies, including solar technologies, and is pleased the Commission rejected the proposal as unreasonable.” – Katie Laning Niebaum, AAEA Executive Director
Act 464 was a top AAEA priority during the 2019 legislative session. AAEA sought and was granted intervention in this proceeding and served as the only industry-wide voice on behalf of its members.
In its ruling, the Commission noted that Entergy’s decision to develop its proposal “was driven by changes to net-metering law made by Act 464 and not by actual data demonstrating that unreasonable cost shifting has occurred or is occurring as the result of new net-metering options made available by Act 464.”
Read Order No. 9 in Docket No. 19-042-TF here (“IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF ENTERGY ARKANSAS, LLC FOR A PROPOSED TARIFF AMENDMENT REGARDING RATE SCHEDULE NO. 62, SOLAR ENERGY PURCHASE OPTION”).
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The Arkansas Advanced Energy Association is the business voice for advanced energy in Arkansas. AAEA is dedicated to growing Arkansas’s economy and workforce through expanded utilization of advanced energy technologies, including energy efficiency, demand response, natural gas electric generation, solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and smart grid. These are innovations that make our energy supply more secure, clean and affordable. Visit ArkansasAdvancedEnergy.com; find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.