CA Solar Tax ??? [RE-wrenches]

[Frank Fowler, Crystal Pines Alt. Energy]

Graham,
Yes, utility users do pay connection, maint. and transmission fees already
which puts the utilities in the "wrong" column as far as stating that PV
users are getting a big free battery to run off of. The only thing these
people are worried about is losing revenue, and trying to put the blame (and
the cost) on the end user. I have sent so many emails, letters, & faxes to
everyone I can think of, and hopefully the CPUC will see that this is a bad
move for not just our industry, but the large energy using community as a
whole. I only hope the CPUC sees the error in the exit fee fiasco.
SUNcerely,
Frank Fowler
Crystal Pines Alternative Energy
4408 Pine Cluster Ln. Yankee Hill, CA. 95965
530-532-1972
www.solarenergy-alt.com
cpae1 at direcway.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Owen" <graham at solarexpert.com>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 8:18 PM
Subject: RE: CA Solar Tax ??? [RE-wrenches]


> 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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