The end of home solar energy as we know it

I’ve been for solar energy since before the energy crisis of the 1970s.

A power company in the state of Arizona is going to start charging $50.00 a month to people who have installed solar cells (solar energy) at their homes. They didn’t say if they would also charge people that had solar water heating or wind turbines. The reason for the charge is that people with solar electricity need to pay their fair share of maintaining the power lines, distribution equipment and other maintenance of the power company.

This is like telling people to use less gasoline and then charge them a special yearly tax for buying an electric or hybrid car.

Arizona is hot. It is not unusual for people living there to pay $200.00 to $600.00 a month for electricity for air conditioning in the summer. In the winter you have to pay the fee even if you don’t need the solar electricity.

I grew up in the desert and it was 100 degrees at midnight many times during the summer so solar cells may only cut your power bill by half. At $200.00 a month that means saving $100.00 a month in electricity then the power company comes and takes $50.00 of that $100.00. That’s optimistic numbers.

The power company will get $50.00 a month for tens to a hundreds of thousands or more users is like getting free money for doing nothing more than they usually do, they are not going to give this fee or TAX up without a big fight.

Other states have said they are going to implement this fee for home solar installations.

Will the air base in Arizona that has the largest solar installation of any base have their uniformed members living in  base housing start getting charged for having solar power?

Will this will drive the home solar power companies out of Arizona and put a lot of people out of work? To the power company it’s profits first and the government of Arizona is very pro-business.

Me, I live on a fixed income and use less than $40.00 worth of electricity a month. Will the power company start charging me a minimum of $50.00 because I don’t use enough electricity to pay for my share of the distribution of the power?

The same power company in Arizona just raised its rates for everybody so it sounds like they are in big financial trouble and trying to milk money out of their customers any way they can. The cost of oil and natural gas is way down they should be lowering the price of electricity.

Write on, draw on.  Professor Voltage