Posted on 12/11/2014 5:39:22 PM PST by Theoria
The costs of solar energy are plummeting, and now are about on par with the electricity generated at big power plants. This new reality intensifies a long-running business and regulatory battle, between the mainline electric utility companies and newer firms that provide solar systems for homeowners' rooftops. Sometimes the rivalry looks more like hardball politics than marketplace economics.
The way rooftop solar typically works, the homeowner leases rooftop panels from a company that owns and installs them. It can be an expensive proposition, but the homeowner saves some money by drawing less power from the utility company's electric plants, and even by selling some solar power back up the electrical grid to the utility.
Utilities say rooftop solar users need to pay their fair share to maintain that grid.
David Owens, a vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, the trade association of investor-owned utilities, says they want to preserve the choice that customers have. "If they want to put on rooftop solar, that is their right. And we think it's a great technology. What we are arguing for is fairness in paying for the grid," he says.
The rooftop solar companies say the utilities just want to drive them out of business. "It's a state-by-state battle where the utilities are trying to stop competition," says Bryan Miller, vice president of solar company SunRun and co-chair of a trade group, The Alliance for Solar Choice. Utilities "are monopolies," he says. "Monopolies don't like competition, and that's what these fights are about."
Driving the competition are solar power and other new technologies, which reduce the demand to generate more electricity.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Only during daylight hours.
Should I have to pay for your electrical grid if I never hook up to it?
Government bureaucrats & commies think any reason is good enough to extort money form those who have it, but is it ethical?
What are you, a pirate?
If your ship isn’t connected to the grid, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.
.The first statement in the whole article is false, with the exception of some areas of Califonia which don't have their own power generation, almost everybody can buy power cheaper than they can produce with solar. This of course might change as Obama policies shut down coal fired plants.
They should only have to pay an amount equal to what the utility wastes on non infrastructure related expenses. That would be about 90%.
They should not have to pay a “grid maintenance fee” if they are not connected to the grid (ie - they generate their own power 24/7/365); however, if they are connected to the grid and dark matter (night) invades and they have to draw power from the grid then they should be liable for the fee.
“The costs of solar energy are plummeting, and now are about on par with the electricity generated at big power plants.”
Yeah, right.
Unless the house/building is disconnected from the grid it can and will draw power from the utility when the sun is not shining. Even if batteries are installed the grid is still there as a backup. The building may use less power but that just makes it’s share of the grid more expensive because the power company cannot recover infrastructure costs through electricity sales. Also, if regulation says that the power utility must buy back electricity at retail rates, those retail rates are in part determined by the cost of maintaining the infrastructure which a solar installation owner does not do.
Yes. People with no children have to pay school taxes.
Heavy Hitters: Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2014
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
“2 American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $60,949,129 [Democrat] 81% [Republican] 1%”
Leviathan (Uncle Sam employs more people than you think)
National Review ^ | 02/03/2011 | Iain Murray
"...nearly 40 million Americans employed in some way by government."
About "70 million" people are receiving good incomes but are also steeped in debt and can't borrow more for big ticket items (see groups above).
More Than 101 Million Working Age Americans Do Not Have A Job
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3005481/posts
America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print
The Fragmenting of the New Class Elites, or, Downward Mobility
http://volokh.com/2011/10/31/the-fragmenting-of-the-new-class-elites-or-downward-mobility/
Environmentalism and the Leisure Class
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2835601/posts
The New Upper Class and the Real Reason We Dislike Them
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2843575/posts
Are you a member of the political class?
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/08/are_you_a_member_of_the_politi.html
Downton’s Class System — and Ours: We have a ruling class that despises the free market and does...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3024119/posts
That seems fair to me.
Obamacare for utilities. ..
Saw it coming....
Costs to the end user, maybe. But they are laden with government subsidies. We are paying more for those solar panels on their roofs than they are. We deserve to get some of our money back. Take away the subsidies and solar panels are an expensive and dangerous eye-soar.
Only allowing for the federal subsidies... In reality, it's not competitive at all.
If a residence is completely disconnected from the grid, thereby never being able to use utility generated electricity, then they should pay nothing.
On the other hand, if a residence is connected to the grid and drawing power from the grid at any time or simply able to do so, then that residence should be paying for the cost of any electricity used plus a charge for the infrastructure. It would seem that utilities need to break out their charges to include a component for infrastructure support. Each home in a community would pay the same fixed infrastructure fee. If that were the case, then the residence drawing power from the grid during certain hours would be paying a monthly infrastructure support charge just like his neighbors plus the cost of generating any electricity used during that month. It does not seem fair that a residence using solar generated power should be able to rely on the electric utility for backup without paying a fee for that backup service. A home having no connection to the grid does not have the ability to tap utility supplied electricity. Hence no fee for them.
I live in Michigan.
That is all.
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