There is an undeclared energy battle being waged in America. As installation costs drop, rooftop solar is spreading throughout the US and, while reducing the nation’s carbon footprint, it also cuts into corporate profits. Despite three resounding setbacks, utility companies are fighting to hold on to their monopolies. They are doing this by trying to limit net metering, the cornerstone policy that gives solar customers credit for the excess energy they put back on the grid. The Alliance of Solar Choice (TASC) says two of the hottest battles are currently being fought in Arizona and Colorado. This was America’s Net Metering War.
The tide of rooftop victories started on June 26 of this year, when the Louisiana Public Utilities Commission voted 3-2 to maintain the payments utilities must make to solar owners.
San Diego is on the leading edge of PEV adoption. According to a recent poll, it is America’s fifth greenest car city. The Center for Sustainable Energy wrote that 20% of the electric car purchases in California take place in San Diego. I was especially intrigued by PEV owners who have solar panels.
Much to the apparent chagrin of California’s three public utilities companies, residential solar is booming. According to the Vote Solar Initiative, 1,400 megawatts (MW) of PV installations are now operating on the homes or businesses of 134,000 Californians. In a recent study, they conclude that, the benefits to ratepayers in SCE, PG&E, and SDG&E territories will be around $92.2 million a year “by the time the state’s net metering program is fully subscribed at 5% of peak demand.” Two thirds of these installations are in low and median income neighbourhoods.
Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric have become increasingly critical of net metering which, according to a Vote Solar Initiative PRnewswire, “reduces their ability to justify the capital investment infrastructure projects that earn them a guaranteed profit.”
