Posted on 04/21/2014 8:02:43 AM PDT by rktman
A disturbing story out of the Sooner State this week, noted by Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. Under the terms of a recently passed bill, expected to be signed by Governor Mary Fallin, homeowners who install their own private solar or wind turbine energy resources and sell some of the juice back to energy companies will be paying a fee for the privilege.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Liberals can always find the perverse incentive... kill the goose that lays the golden eggs... throw the baby out with the bath water. Democrats - the party of negative platitudes... I’m stunned they found a way to undermine solar power...
I agree
They are very popular in California. The way most people are doing it is they rent the panels, so you don’t have up front cost.
We’ve been debating it because we have a large home and are in a high electricity bracket. If we had solar panels, not only would that provide electricity, we would be in the lower bracket.
We’re still not convinced.
1. Government obeys the chaos theory just like that actor (Jeff Goldblum) said in Jurassic Park. "Life always finds a way." Just substitute 'life' with 'government' and you have it.
2. Once implemented, taxes by government will NEVER be decreased, nor will they ever be disestablished. EVER. There will always be some trick, slight of hand, or just plain out oppression that maintains them. ALWAYS.
3. Government exists solely to perpetuate itself. If you have the misconception it is there to serve and protect you, then you are the perfect sheep. You might as well get ready for some of that Friday night 'farmer barn fun.'
Here is how this usually plays.
Some guy has lots of solar or windmills. He wants to sell power to the grid at his retail rate, which of course denies the utility their profit.
But there’s much more to this. The guy doesn’t unhook from the grid because . . . he wants to sell back. Then he gets 5 days of cloudy weather and his batteries drain to zero and presto, he draws from the grid. In effect, he uses the grid as a bigger battery, and why isn’t he compensating the grid for that? So the utility is entitled to be paid for that service, not just per KwH, but for the value of availability, backstopping him for bad weather, or windmill or solar panel malfunction of damage.
Then there is the cost of the wires the utility provided to allow him to sell power. They are entitled to amortize that cost, too.
As for “punishment” . . . why should not Saudi Arabia or Russia choose to charge one price for oil if you guarantee you will not research alternatives, vs a higher price if you choose to invest in that research. Why should they subsidize you abusing them as suppliers?
Just throwing in some numbers:
Average electric bill of $250/month. If that bill is totally covered by electricity produced with a capital cost of $15,000, then 5 years would be right to recoup, but...it is prudent to add maintenance costs and not getting the full $250 a month covered. 10 years? maybe.
They aren’t. Generally the powe company has to pay the homeowners only the cheapest rate that they themselves pay to generate. Typically, that is hydroelectric power at just a few cents per kw hr.
Seems to me it would be a lot less expensive and easier to install a natural gas powered generator to use in the event of a power outage. Couple of my neighbors have them which cost slightly less than $10,000, and powered their entire house when we were hit with Ike several years ago. They experienced no power outage except for about five minutes. Rest of neighborhood was down about three weeks.
Am I missing something here?
That would be great if true, but I have seen differently in some locations. I’m not sure about Oklahoma.
http://www.socalgas.com/innovation/self-generation/
Glad I don’t live there...
Government Subsidies?
So, don’t sell it to the power companies.
Innovation is in the making. Electric share with neighbors. Come on EE’s!!!!
You mean if “Colorado’s rain” causes a flood that damages your house, will they pay for the damages? Ha! Good luck with that lawsuit.
Which proves that most people are stupid.
If you can't buy it outright, you can't afford it.
It was out there and I’s sure I read it was CO. I wouldn’t put it past OR to do it.
If you use it for solar power, probably yes.
It’s up to the household receiving the rain that it doesn’t damage other property /sarc
I know that there is a company in MA that installs free solar panels on the roof including all necessary hookups to the power grid.
Owner of the house then receives some rebate on his power usage — I think it’s about $35/month.
Right now I have separate line items for a monthly connection cost, a generation cost and a delivery cost. I can change my provider, but I still have to pay the local utility for the other two. If I pump electricity into the grid, do I get just the generation price for it? Or do I get the total price for it?
The article gives no hints on how this is handled or how much the surcharge would be.
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