Thursday, February 21, 2019

Laura Belin - New bill is “clear attempt by MidAmerican to monopolize the sun in Iowa”

A new bill backed by MidAmerican Energy would devastate the ability of Iowans to install solar panels for their homes or businesses. House Study Bill 185 would undo a longstanding policy of net metering, which “allows residential and commercial customers who generate their own electricity from solar power to feed electricity they do not use back into the grid.”

Iowans served by monopoly providers MidAmerican or Alliant Energy have been able to use net metering since the 1980s, under rules adopted by the Iowa Utilities Board.

In recent years, MidAmerican has periodically sought to subvert net metering in various ways. Environmental advocates have been concerned the policy would become the next target for Republican lawmakers who destroyed Iowa’s decades-old, successful energy-efficiency programs last year at the behest of utility companies.…
Disclosure: I am a resident of Iowa (Iowa City).

Bleeding Heartland
New bill is “clear attempt by MidAmerican to monopolize the sun in Iowa”
Laura Belin

2 comments:

Ryan Harris said...

"net metering" = Forcing low income Americans to pay high income americans subsidies for solar panels. Companies and government buy energy wholesale and don't pay the net-metering tax, just individuals who buy from regulated markets. It's a democratic party totem of regressive tax policy that most don't understand the mechanics of, just know they love solar and dream of being "independent" from evil rentiers by becoming an evil rentier themselves.

If you want to subsidize solar, subsidize it directly to favor small systems or force owners to sell their electricity wholesale but give them other types of credits. Hiding a tax behind a regulated market on poor people is just ugly and selfish. Regulated electricity markets, before the 1980s were designed to protect small consumers, since the 1980s, people voted with their hearts instead of minds and used it to penalize individuals.

Bob Roddis said...

When the government grants monopolies and subsidies to private persons and entities, why that's the free market!!!