Ryan Randazzo

The Republic | azcentral.com

SolarCity Corp. responded to accusations from Arizona's top utility regulator saying the company is truthful in its advertising and battling utilities that see solar as a competitive threat.

Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Bob Stump wrote a letter to SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive on Wednesday asking about statements SolarCity's sales representatives make and what kind of monitoring the company undertakes to ensure they provide accurate information.

Stump said Tucson Electric Power customers were complaining about conflicting information from SolarCity and the utility.

"We believe that this allegation is politically motivated," said Will Craven, senior communications manager for SolarCity. "Utilities are trying to disrupt straightforward private business transactions between solar companies and Arizona residents by planting seeds of doubt in the minds of ratepayers wherever they can, simply in order to harm the rooftop solar industry."

Stump said he is concerned about statements regarding net metering, the arrangement whereby utilities give customers credit for the electricity they send to the power grid when their homes are not using it. The credit they get for excess generation helps offset the power they draw from the utility at night, lowering their bills.

SolarCity spent most of 2013 debating Arizona Public Service Co. over net metering. Regulators in November decided to add a fee that averages $5 a month to new solar customers. The commissioners decided to "grandfather" the nearly 20,000 APS customers that already installed solar, sparing them the fee.

Stump's letter said he is concerned that SolarCity is incorrectly telling customers that the rules can't change. Stump said several TEP customers have complained that they were told by SolarCity that if they install solar, they will be grandfathered in. But then those customers must sign an interconnection agreement with TEP, which states that the utility's rates and tariffs are subject to change.

Stump said any decision by the commission is subject to review, especially for TEP customers, who will face a separate decision on net metering.

"It is presumptuous to tell customers that such an outcome is certain," he said.

Craven said the only reason the rules will change is if TEP, APS or other utilities seek such changes, and that what SolarCity tells customers is correct.

"We are confident that the information we provide to customers is accurate," Craven said. "In sales conversations we note that utility regulations and prices are subject to change, but to date no rooftop solar customer in the nation has failed to be grandfathered following changes to net metering — in every case the discussion is not whether to grandfather, but how much to grandfather ... To the extent that solar customers are at risk of changes, it is due entirely to the desire and willingness of utilities to put them at risk."

The dustup with SolarCity's Rive comes as Rive's cousin, Elon Musk, is considering where to locate a $4 billion to $5 billion battery factory for his company, Tesla Motors. Arizona is one of four states in the running for the factory.