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Reagan Priest, Arizona Capitol Times//August 20, 2026//
Rows of solar panels sit at Orsted’s Eleven Mile Solar Center lithium-ion battery storage energy facility, Feb. 29, 2024, in Coolidge, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona’s solar industry facing mounting backlash
Rows of solar panels sit at Orsted’s Eleven Mile Solar Center lithium-ion battery storage energy facility, Feb. 29, 2024, in Coolidge, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Reagan Priest, Arizona Capitol Times//August 20, 2026//
It has been a rough year for solar advocates in the nation’s sunniest state.
Republican lawmakers, state regulators and some utility companies have historically been unfriendly to renewable energy resources. But this year they’ve attempted to block the construction of utility-scale solar on state land, repeal tax incentives for rooftop solar systems and impose higher fees on ratepayers who choose to adopt solar.
While these attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, there’s no indication that opposition to Arizona’s solar industry is abating anytime soon.
This comes amid what an industry advocate called “unprecedented” federal hostility toward renewable energy, driven by President Donald Trump’s plans to reinvigorate America’s coal industry and accelerate nuclear energy development. Major cuts to federal funding and tax incentives have further compounded state-level attacks.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts,” said Autumn Johnson, the executive director of the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association.
Arizona is consistently ranked as the sunniest state in the U.S., but solar only makes up 13% of the energy powering its electric grid. Natural gas is by far the largest source of energy used in the state, while utility companies are moving toward thermal energy sources and away from solar and wind projects.
Johnson represents solar energy businesses as a lobbyist at the Legislature and Corporation Commission, where she has already noticed a drop-off in participation from renewable energy businesses.
“What I hear about is, ‘this company can’t renew their membership because they are cutting back on this state,’ or ‘they’re deprioritizing Arizona,’ or ‘they’ve gone belly up entirely,’” Johnson said. “Our membership numbers are down probably 25 or 30% over the last two years.”
Lawmakers take aim at solar
Republican lawmakers pushed three bills this year to discourage utility-scale solar development. All came from Reps. Ralph Heap and David Marshall, who launched a bid to unseat incumbent Republican Commissioners Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers.
The first bill would have classified utility-scale solar projects as public nuisances if they were located within four miles of a residence. The second would have required utility companies to get 85% of their electric generation from “reliable sources,” excluding wind and solar from the definition of “reliable.”
The third bill would have prohibited the State Land Department from using solar score maps to evaluate state trust land for potential solar development. Additionally, drafts of ASLD’s continuation bill, which was meant to extend the department’s statutory life, included a moratorium on solar and wind projects on state land until 2029.
While none of those proposals ultimately came to fruition, it made for a dizzying legislative session for solar advocates like Johnson. She said this year marked the first time she has had to weigh in on an agency continuation bill or state budget negotiations.
“[This year] was a lot worse, but more from an optics standpoint than from an actual outcome standpoint,” Johnson said.
Heap, who unseated Myers in the July 21 primary, told the Arizona Capitol Times in May that his legislation was driven by Trump’s characterization of renewable energy sources as unreliable and uneconomic.
“The utilities, [Arizona Public Service] in particular, gave the Corporation Commission their 15-year plan of how they’re going to generate energy between 2023 and 2038, and that plan was net zero, green energy, run the state on wind, solar and batteries,” Heap said. “And since then, almost all the projects that have gone in the state, up to 90% now, are green energy projects.”
Natural gas versus solar
By all accounts, utility companies are building more solar projects. Between 2025 and the first eight months of 2026, the Commission approved line siting proposals for 12 solar and battery storage projects.
However, Johnson noted that new natural gas generation is still outpacing new solar generation as utility companies look to add more resources to meet skyrocketing energy demand.
“They’re still adding renewables … but they’re building a ton of new gas over the next decade, so the percentage in Arizona that is actually renewables is flat or slightly decreasing,” Johnson said.
Myers, the Commission’s chair, said in a statement that the line siting approvals demonstrate the Commission’s commitment to an all-of-the-above energy approach.
“Arizona is building an increasingly flexible energy portfolio to meet record-setting demand,” Myers said. “The Commission’s siting decisions are helping bring new resources online while supporting the infrastructure needed to deliver electricity to Arizona customers.”
But the Commission has also moved to disincentivize residential rooftop solar this year by considering a proposed increase in APS’s “grid access charge” and adjustments to solar export rates.
The Commission adopted the GAC in the 2022 APS rate case after an administrative law judge recommended setting rates for rooftop solar customers 15% higher than non-solar customers. APS did not specifically propose the GAC, but suggested in rate case proceedings that solar customers are underpaying the cost incurred to serve them.
The Court of Appeals ruled in June that the Commission must either conduct a rehearing on the GAC or vacate it entirely, citing due process concerns. Meanwhile, APS is seeking to increase the GAC in its ongoing rate case.
And on Aug. 12, the Commission approved requests from APS and UNS Electric to lower export rates that reimburse residential rooftop solar customers for energy they provide to the grid by 10%.
“Rooftop solar is one of the few actions Arizona ratepayers can take to control their energy needs and meaningfully reduce monthly bills,” the solar groups wrote in a letter to the Commission. “Unfortunately, this Commission’s continued approval of the maximum reductions to the [export rates] have made rooftop solar harder to pencil out for families across the state.”
The upcoming Commission election could offer some hope for clean energy advocates if the two Democrats running can manage to upset the all-Republican balance on the body. But Johnson said she’s yet to see an entirely solar-friendly Commission.
“Each Commission that I’ve observed has become more and more difficult for solar in the seven years that I’ve been doing this,” Johnson said.
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