Augh!!!!! Indiana is going to wrong direction when it comes to developing alternative energy sources!! ************************************************************************************ A Bill to Kill Solar Power in Indiana? Public News Service - IN | January 2015 | Download audioBudget Policy & PrioritiesClimate Change/Air QualityConsumer IssuesEnergy PolicyEnvironment PHOTO: Indiana House Bill 1320, introduced by Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford), would allow utilities to set fixed charges for solar electricity users, which opponents say would shift profits from homeowners to utility companies. Photo credit: Ben Grader/Morguefile. PHOTO: Indiana House Bill 1320, introduced by Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford), would allow utilities to set fixed charges for solar electricity users, which opponents say would shift profits from homeowners to utility companies. Photo credit: Ben Grader/Morguefile. January 20, 2015 EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Clean-energy supporters and utilities are at odds over a new bill at the statehouse. Electricity customers in Indiana who use solar power receive credits for selling excess power back to the grid, but HB 1320 would minimize those credits, and allow utilities to set fixed charges for solar users. Brad Morton, owner of Morton Solar in Evansville, is among those speaking out against the legislation. Morton says it would increase the cost to install solar power, effectively killing it as an energy option in Indiana. It takes the incentive out of the homeowners pocket and puts it right into the pocket of the utility company, he says. Thats what this bill is all about, shifting the profits from the homeowner to the utility company. Supporters say HB 1320 would ensure fairness among all customers when it comes to paying for use of the electric grid. But Morton argues it would stop the wave of solar implementation in Indiana. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory database, the states solar output jumped from less than 500 kilowatts in 2010 to more than 3,500 in 2012. Debbie Dooley, the founder of Conservatives for Energy Freedom, works around the country advocating for policies that support solar power. She says encouraging innovation will spur competition, but with solar pricing at an all-time low, Dooley says utilities and fossil-fuel interests are simply concerned about their own bottom line. They see solar as a threat because it will give consumers some degree of energy independence and energy choice, says Dooley. This is not just going on in Indiana. This is being played out in states across this nation. Morton says its not just the users of solar who will pay a price if the new legislation is approved, but the 1,000 jobs the solar industry supports in Indiana. He says lawmakers need to stop building barriers to energy efficiency. It shouldnt be considered political at all, says Morton. Its not something that because youre on one side or the other that youre for or against. Solar benefits everybody, and its your only option besides the utility company. Last year, state leaders approved legislation that ended the states energy-efficiency savings goal and statewide efficiency programs. Mary Kuhlman, Public News Service - IN - See more at: publicnewsservice.org/2015-01-20/energy-policy/a-bill-to-kill-solar-power-in-indiana/a44087-1#sthash.eoiMIU3U.GZoJnDuw.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 04:56:47 +0000
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