When it comes to sheer number of solar installations, Arizona comes in third among states, following California and New Jersey.

Until last December, Arizona’s incentive programs were among the best in the nation, with public utilities offering generous per-watt rebates in addition to a state rebate.

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Regulators at the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) put their stamp of approval late last week on a new surcharge unfairly penalizing customers that go solar. The state’s utilities charge customers a monthly fee to help pay for solar-panel rebates and to purchase clean energy to meet the state’s 15% by 2025 renewable energy standard. Until now, those (more…)

Lays, Tostitos, Sunchips, Cheetos and other snacks will soon be produced with almost no net impact on the planet. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about their impact on your waistline.

When fighting for corporate sustainability and social responsibility, it’s important to celebrate the (more…)

Good news. The Arizona Supreme Court recently upheld the legality of Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff. An activist group had filed serial legal challenges over the years, and this may finally put the issue to rest. Read about it here.

Note that this decision–and the ACC’s actions–are (more…)

In this economic climate, every state wants new jobs. And harnessing the sun for electricity creates more of those coveted jobs per megawatt-hour than any other energy resource. These are high quality jobs across a broad range of education requirements, salary levels and fields. The majority (about 75%) (more…)

The Salt River Project (SRP) is a utility that delivers about a third of the electricity in Arizona. Unlike the other utilities in the state, it is not regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission—and not covered by the state’s rules for renewable energy. Instead, it has a voluntary standard that it calls its “Sustainable Portfolio”. SRP is (more…)

Arizona has long been considered the “solar capital” of the United States with a number of large-scale solar projects currently in the works. In 2006, the Arizona Commission approved their state Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff. This required that all Arizona electric utilities, by 2025, need to generate 15 (more…)

In Arizona, the Arizona Corporation Commission just approved Arizona Public Service’s 2011 implementation plan (big PDF) for the Renewable Energy Standard. The plan includes two policies for wholesale distributed generation:

Small Generator Standard Offer. About 95 MW over the next 3 years, for systems (more…)

Despite recent legislative attacks that had one manufacturer threatening to pull up stakes, Arizona’s solar industry seems to be doing quite well. Global solar giant (and near stake-puller) Suntech Power remains committed to building a manufacturing plant in Goodyear, and recently, Governor Jan Brewer, Mayor Lyn Truitt and industry representatives announced the arrival of a (more…)

A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities supported green initiatives during the last year despite declining endowments, according to a report released by the Sustainable Endowments Institute.

Twenty-six of 332 schools evaluated in the College Sustainability Report Card received the highest-possible grade of A-minus through sustainable management of campus operations and endowment practices.

Now in its fourth year, the College Sustainability Report Card evaluates schools in nine categories, including climate change and energy, food and recycling, and green building.

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