CA Solar Tax ??? [RE-wrenches]

[Graham Owen]

Frank wrote:


The whole "exit fee" thing is the biggest bunch of "BULL" I have ever
heard of, but what really burns my ass is the comment below from the
article.

"That's why state regulators are looking at imposing between 2 cents and
5 cents per kilowatt hour in fees for anyone with an off-grid system,
which makes sense for big, industrial diesel setups but would cast a
dark cloud over solar".

SUNcerely,
Frank Fowler


Hi Frank,

It seems the reporter did not fully understand the issues and the
difference between on-grid and off-grid PV.  I believe this exit-fee BS
has the potential to only tax on-grid PV.  The utilities like to think
of these fees as "departing load" fees, and would apply them to
properties which generate their own power, while remaining connected to
the grid.  Perhaps the utilities envision a growing technology  whose
owners generate power when the sun shines, run the meter backwards all
day, while utilizing a power grid as a big free battery that never needs
replacement, allowing power to be extracted at night, resulting in a
utility bill so insignificant that these property owners are not paying
their fair share toward the maintenance, service and upkeep of the grid.
That is the only argument that I can think of on their behalf.  When in
reality, PV complements the grid by peaking it's output at the same time
as grid demand peaks.  PV Places power into the grid when electricity is
most expensive, which gets sold to the next door neighbor, and is taken
back when costs are lowest, at night.  To me this seems like a financial
benefit to the utility. I think one could argue that the utilities
should pay extra for this clean alternative power supplement into their
grid. Nevertheless grid connected PV property owners do pay a monthly
connection fee which is supposed to cover service charges, regardless of
the units of power consumed. What makes this exit-fee solar tax even
more ridiculous is that: the number of grid connected PV systems in CA
is so insignificant that the money collected would not be enough to
adequately fund the new bureaucracy necessary to administer this new PV
taxation scheme. Talk about waste of money, and perhaps even our own
industry and its environmental benefits for everyone. If we are truly
seeking to reduce our dependence on carbon-based fuels, it's obvious how
advantageous PV is to the citizens of California, not to mention all the
new jobs created and manufacturing exportation potential.  I just cannot
imagine reasonable rational minds allowing the utilities to get away
with this BS.  The CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) was
instituted to protect the public and I believe they wont allow this to
pass.  But we do have to keep up the fight and letter writing just to
help make sure.

Graham

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