| Stakeholders,APS Production Meters – Compliance with ACC Decision 72737Beginning March 4, 2013, APS will begin providing a utility production meter (also called a PV generation or performance meter) for customers with grid-tied solar systems wherever automated billing meters (AMI) are deployed.This production meter will allow APS to measure the amount of solar energy produced from each solar system, which means customers will no longer be required to submit their annual solar production output to us. There is no charge or fee for this new meter and the customer’s solar rate will not be affected by this change.
APS still needs unassisted 24/7 access to PV equipment, therefore interconnection requirements related to access will not change.
New Installations
APS will provide the performance meter on all new installations in AMI-deployed territories. Procedural changes are minimal.
- At the time of PV installation, the installer must call 602-328-1924 to determine whether the customer is in AMI territory – it is important to check in case the customer’s billing meter was swapped for an AMI meter after your project was initiated.
- If customer is not in AMI-deployed territory, proceed as usual.
- If customer is in AMI-deployed territory, please note the new interconnection/meter installation process:
- APS receives a city/county clearance (or letter in lieu of electrical clearance, if applicable)
- The energy delivery team contacts the installer to arrange a
compliance check
- Our energy delivery team will require that you continue to provide a socket and PV performance meter for testing purposes
- The test meter will remain at the customer’s site until APS installs its performance meter
- Refer to the APS ESRM for technical questions
- After the compliance check, APS will install both the AMI billing meter and performance meter
- Our staff will leave your test meter behind for you to re-use for testing on other installations
Retrofits
We are also replacing old production meters on grid-tied systems that are already operating in AMI-deployed territory for which customers received an incentive. In a typical case, customers will not experience a power outage and the PV system will only be off for about five minutes.
We are communicating procedures directly to customers, but for your benefit, once the new production meter is installed, APS will either:
- Recycle the old meter and parts
- Leave the meter for the customer to discard
If customers would like APS to recycle the old meter and parts, they must attach a sticker we are providing directly on the side of the meter’s glass case without covering the front display. If there is no sticker on the meter when our team arrives to complete the switch, APS will leave the old meter. APS will affix a sticker onto the customer’s electric panel with the final PV performance meter read from the original system meter.
Please email stakeholdercomments@aps.com to be notified when customer and installer FAQs are posted on aps.com.
More Information
Should you or customers have any questions, please call the APS Green Team at
602-371-3635 in the Phoenix metropolitan area, or toll free at 855-371-3635 outside the
Phoenix area.
2013 Commissionings
For non-residential customers:
- Provide a complete interconnection application, including a full set of AHJ-approved/stamped diagrams, by October 4, 2013.
- Request the 2013 compliance check by November 8 – along with this request, you must provide the signed interconnect agreement and a copy of the green tag.
- If the system will receive a production-based incentive, then by November 8, you must also have installed the dedicated phone line(s); please include the phone number(s) in your request.
- Timelines for systems over 1 MW will be addressed on an individual basis.
- Information regarding the non-residential interconnection process can be found at aps.com/dg.
- For questions, please contact your interconnection team at 602-371-6160 or email commercial-renewables@aps.com.
For residential customers to have the best chance for a 2013 compliance check, the Interconnect Application must be approved by November 29, 2013, and the green tag must be received by November 29. For questions, please email renewables@aps.com.
Sincerely,
APS Renewable Energy
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ABCO Solar 