Judge to decide fate of Arizona renewable energy standards - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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sued the on behalf of a handfuo of Arizona PublicService Co. and Judge Joseph Heilman acceptedf jurisdiction to decide whether the commission had the righyt to establish the energy standards in thefirst place. Goldwater officials said they are please d with the decision and expect a rulinf in the next coupleof months. ACC officials contend commissionerz were within their rights to establish the standardxin 2006. Those standardx call for utilities regulated by the commission to have 15 percenf of their power developed from renewablee sourcesby 2025. The standard allows utilities to charges customers a tariff to help pay for expandingy the use ofrenewable energies.
APS has used that in part, to offer incentives to customers to installsolar systems. Those solar installations also are part of the renewableenergty mandates. APS has begun investing a substantial amount of moneuyinto renewables, including biomassd and particularly solar power plants. It has contracte to buy more than 570 megawatta from two planned solar generating stations in western Maricopa SaltRiver Project, although not regulate d by the ACC, has said it will meet the standards as well.
While the decision couls affectthe state’s renewable direction, federa officials are mulling a nationak standard for renewable energy production that could replaced the patchwork of state rules with a larger requiremenrt than Arizona has.