Why should the utility pay more for solar power generated by a homeowner than power from a power plant? I am in the middle on this issue.
The utility has to maintain the distribution system and pay for the power plants 24/7. If a home owner wants to get the same rate for his generated kw as the utility charges him..pull the plug. But they can’t do that since their usage peaks and falls..and they can’t cheaply store the power.
Utilities are monopolies that are politically regulated..fact of life.
The utility is not having to pay the capital costs nor is the utility having to pay fuel costs. Keep in mind that coal and natural gas plants have relatively low capital costs and relatively high operating(fuel) costs while solar and wind have relatively high capital costs and low operating(no fuel) costs.
Having said that, there is a problem in that the homeowner generators sell the power to the utility at a time when the utility may not need it. When the homeowner is at work he is not consuming his self generated power so he sells it to the utility, when the utility probably doesn't need it. When the homeowner gets home he uses his self-generated power, when the utility probably needs it most.
This is not a problem if the utility is using significant amounts of natural gas to generate because they can turn the natural gas plants on and off relatively quickly. If the utility's fuel is mostly coal, it can be a problem
Not less than half of all energy (not only electricity) goes waste in United States.
There is a huge room for improvement without all this green crap.
Of course it is automobiles which makes the most energy consumption for households but take to account that Western European rate of car ownership is way ahead of US thus overall European energy consumption per capita is twice lower.