Solar rankings are out, AZ utilities score high, low

The rankings for the amount of solar energy being produced by and for utilities across America are out, and the results are mixed. On the sunny side, Arizona Public Service Company ranked in the top 10 utilities for the total amount of solar Megawatts, in the Solar Electric Power Association's second annual "Top Ten Solar Integration Rankings." http://www.solarelectricpower.org/docs/SEPA%20Utility%20Solar%20Integration%20Rankings-2008.Public%20release.pdf. APS ranked 8th among all utilities surveyed for total solar Megawatts installed, although it looks like APS’ ranking for total solar MWs slid this year, down from its position last year, when it ranked 7th for total solar capacity. APS did climb the solar ladder nationally for the total amount of solar MWs installed on the customer side of the meter – essentially the ranking given for utilities that are doing a significant amount of solar rooftops, or distributed generation. APS ranked 6th for solar on the customer side of the meter, up from its ranking of 7th last year. (Thank the Arizona Renewable Energy Standard for this, with its significant dg carve-out). The results were equally mixed for Tucson Electric Power, which saw its ranking for total solar Megawatts increase from 9th to 8th, but experienced a decrease in its ranking for total solar Megawatts per customer from 5th to 8th. Salt River Project saw its ranking for total solar Megawatts by Public Power Utilities drop from 4th to 5th (it’s important also to note that SRP’s total actual number of solar Megawatts installed was far less than APS and TEP). SRP and TEP did not rank at all for total solar watts per customer, and did not make the top ten utilities listing for total solar megawatts installed (recall APS ranked 8th). The SEPA rankings demonstrate that the Renewable Energy Standard is keeping Arizona competitive among states doing solar energy, but California utilities, and interestingly, Colorado’s Excel Energy, are still either leading the way, or in the case of Excel, coming on strong.