Electric utilities, solar companies strike compromise on contentious cost-shifting bill

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

The House Insurance and Commerce committee spent as much time debating a controversial issue as Senators did with the governor’s education bill on Wednesday (Feb. 22).

HB1370 by Rep. Lanny Fite, R-Benton, pitted electric utilities against the solar industry in a measure called the “Cost-Shifting Prevention Act of 2023.” Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, is the Senate co-sponsor.

Cost-shifting in any industry is the concern that one group of payers is underwriting the costs of a group not paying their fair share. In this instance, electric utilities claim that businesses and individuals with solar arrays are being paid for their additional power at an amount too high to cover the utilities’ costs.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/02/electric-utilities-solar-companies-strike-compromise-on-contentious-cost-shifting-bill/

CADC Summer Utility Assistance Public Service Announcement

After Bracing for Winter Storms, Arkansans Now Brace for Upcoming Utility Bills

By ZUZANNA SITEK

After back to back winter storms two weeks ago dropped temperatures to as much as negative 20 degrees along with several inches of snow, Arkansans are now bracing for their upcoming utility bills. Energy company representatives told lawmakers in a hearing this week that high demand and short supply dramatically drove up the price of natural gas and all modes of energy production performed less than optimally during several days of brutal weather.

https://www.kuaf.com/post/after-bracing-winter-storms-arkansans-now-brace-upcoming-utility-bills

Ozarks Electric Cooperative crews clean off panels at a Fayetteville solar facility, which is used to power the city's wastewater treatment plants.

COURTESY / OZARKS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE