Midamerican Energy, monopoly of electricity in Iowa, drafted a law allowing it to "monopolize the sun" / Boing Boing

Gary Carlson, State of Iowa State Representative [R-91/[email protected]] presented the House Study Bill 185, co-authored by lobbyists of Midamerican Energy, one of the regional energy monopolies in Iowa, which has long been trying to circumvent the rules of the net billing "that allow Iowans to place solar panels on its roofs and resell electricity in the grid when they generate more than they use.

The Midamerican / Carlson Guts Net billing system, which will add about $ 300 a year to household electricity bills that install solar panels, uses a common anti-solar argument that falsely claims that solar users cost more than $ 300 a year. expensive for utilities. a subsidy of households without solar energy (in fact, a portion of the installation costs of solar energy paid by homeowners includes the necessary infrastructure costs to connect to the network).

Kerri Johannsen of the Iowa Environment Council called the intervention "a clear attempt to monopolize the sun in Iowa".

800 Iowans make a good living as solar installers.

MidAmerican's characterization of solar energy costs for the grid and, in particular, the idea that solar energy customers are "super-users" is alarming and seems to be based on an average of Iowans not understanding the operation of the network. In fact, the poles and wires that power our homes are the same as those that power the grid. Solar customers do not receive special or different cables, and two-way network use does not impose any additional constraints on these devices. That's not how it works. Solar customers also pay the interconnection costs, including necessary system upgrades, in advance.

It is very difficult to understand how MidAmerican believes it can justify a price increase of more than $ 300 a year for customers in the solar energy sector, when these customers are already paying their fair share of costs via large electricity. value they deliver to their neighbors. Electricity flows from where it is produced to where it is needed, taking the shortest possible route to get there. When solar customers produce more energy than they need, they provide energy to their neighbors, energy that would otherwise have been provided by utilities, with all the costs of production and transportation associates. And they provide that energy when they need it most, during expensive peak hours. In fact, MidAmerican charges residential subscribers a base rate of 21 cents per kWh during peak summer hours. Most solar customers "cash" these credits for off-peak energy valued at 10.5 cents per kWh. This is a big difference in value with utilities coming in first.

Finally, this bill is not necessary to allow the development of utility solar systems, as MidAmerican claims. They have the option of submitting to the Iowa Utilities Board at any time a request for advanced pricing for a solar project and, in fact, we would welcome it. We think that more solar energy is better. However, we are certain that this bill does not affect the expansion of solar energy. We encourage Iowans to take MidAmerican's talking points with a grain of salt. In the end, MidAmerican is a monopoly, anxious to protect its monopoly status. We can not allow MidAmerican to have a monopoly on the sun.

The new bill is "a clear attempt by MidAmerican to monopolize the sun in Iowa" [Laura Belin/Bleeding Heartland]

(via naked capitalism)

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