General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsALEC: People who install solar panels to create their own electricity are "Freeriders"
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As it stands now, those direct generation customers are essentially freeriders on the system, said John Eick of ALEC. They are not paying for the infrastructure they are using. In effect, all the other non-direct generation customers are being penalized. How are they going to get that electricity from their solar panel to somebody elses house? They should be paying to distribute the surplus electricity.
Its not surprising, then, that groups like the Iowa Solar and Energy Trade Association are working to get out in front of such a bizarre attempt to taint what otherwise would be viewed as a positive step toward encouraging the growth of the solar sector. ALEC fails to mention that customers pay for grid infrastructure and that the solar investment made by the customer increases grid stability, grid efficiency and energy security, association president Tim Dwight wrote in a guest opinion.
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Blue Owl
(49,902 posts)n/t
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)We don't all want to buy our juice from your pimp. We'd rather find a better way that the free market allows.
We also want to catch some rainwater for greywater use. Deal with it.
demwing
(16,916 posts)they want a locked market, maybe a blocked market.
Token competition, captive consumers, and government subsidies.
What's the perfect term for the un-free market crowd?
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Maybe they don't have surplus.
2naSalit
(86,031 posts)it's a public infrastructure built with tax dollars so...
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)I am pretty sure that is all done by private companies.
There is some small point that they have which is that those who use the grid to offload their surplus are using something without paying for it or the maintenance. This does not apply to those who only use batteries and do not sell surplus.
Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)nearer to the cities, it was a combination of public and private investment, similar to how telegraph and telephone lines were funded, along with railroads.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)In my area, the power company is a public utility. The public utility buys power wholesale on the open market and resells it to customers at a profit. That profit is used to pay for infrastructure.
The question is whether the surplus power from grid-tied solar systems should be reimbursed at the customer's retail price or the wholesale price. I think it's in a customer's interest to maintain the infrastructure whether you're a buyer OR a seller of electricity, so I think that excess power should be sold at the wholesale rate.
The same argument is made for electric vehicles running on public highways paid for primarily with taxes on gasoline.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)free loaders.
catbyte
(34,165 posts)to realize that if the planet dies they die too.
louis-t
(23,199 posts)NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)If, on the other hand, they remain connected to the utility then they are using the services of said utility and need to pay something for the access to power.
The question becomes "what is that service worth", "what, if anything, should be paid to solar owners for overproduction", and who, in the end should be paying to maintain and improve the grid?
Here in California it's been an interesting experience to watch as agencies work out the details, with customers on one side and utilities on the other.
"Freeriders" is an insult. Tim Dwight is right.
Incitatus
(5,317 posts)Rooftop solar is the future.
Bettie
(15,995 posts)Even if you don't use any electricity, you pay a fee.
So, there are no free riders, because that fee is on everyone's bill unless they are not connected to the utility at all.
We own a second property. We do not have water or use heat in it, though we sometimes turn on lights for brief periods of time. Our minimum bill is between 20 and 25 dollars per month. Only a few cents of it is actual power charges.
Atman
(31,464 posts)It is so weird, up here in CT it seems like every other farm house is solar powered. Several have windmills. But I go home to Florida and no one has solar. They have sun all the time, except for the 30 minute afternoon thunderstorm, and yet NO ONE does solar. But it's everywhere in New England.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Fuck Alec.
My Wife & I lived for 3 years on Solar Powered Houseboats.
We had planned to install about 1500 watts of PV Panels when we moved to The Woods in 2006, but our rural Electric Co-Op claims they don't have the necessary equipment for Buy Back, and we don't want to bring a ton of toxic batteries to our hilltop.
Until then, we are going to stick with improving efficiency and passive solar improvements.
Small things like this can be Acts of Revolution!
So far, so good.
Next year, we will !CONSUME! less, and produce MORE.