Remember that scene in The Lord of the Rings when the camera pans back from the bad wizard’s tower, and you get a view of a pit, lit by hellfire and seemingly bottomless, which is just churning out fanged orcs and trolls and awful undead creatures with every manner of spike, claw, and blood-guttered blade known to man? And you think, uh-oh, this is not good, those little pink-cheeked Hobbits are gonna get munched.
That’s how it’s feeling in the solar world these days. Our small band of quirky-but-plucky warrior-wonks is up against a powerful enemy that has turned its all-seeing red eye on solar like never before.
Over the course of 2013, we have seen a dozen utilities take aim at customer solar adoption through regulation. It began in earnest last spring, when Arizona Public Service filed for approval of a scheme to squash the growing solar market in the state. APS spent at least $3.7 million dollars on television ads attacking rooftop solar and promoting their scheme. We’ve never seen the like.
Then, the Edison Electric Institute, the deep-pocketed trade association representing the major utilities in the US, also produced an ad attacking rooftop solar – and spent a reported half million dollars airing it during NFL Sunday. This is unprecedented.
Let’s be clear: most EEI members are not just huge monopolies, but monopolies with guaranteed (!) returns on investment. These monopolies are principally investing in polluting fossil fuels (like it or not), while shifting all the human health and environmental costs onto you and your kids (like it or not). They privatize the profits and socialize the costs – and like that sweet deal just fine. EEI members have fought renewable policies. EEI members have blocked effective federal action on carbon and climate change. Having failed to deliver collective solutions, the Mordor of Monopolies is now gearing up to stop individual actions.
As if EEI and dozens of state fights weren’t enough, we are now getting word that American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – is taking aim at rooftop solar homeowners. Armed with deep pockets and the influence of its corporate membership, ALEC is reportedly sponsoring efforts to try and remove customer choice and protect monopolies. So much for liberty and free markets.
Rooftop solar provides the opportunity for individuals to make their own energy choices. Solar opens the door to democracy in environmental decision-making. And that’s what the utility interests, with their deep pockets and guaranteed rates of return, are trying to prevent.
It’s not all doom and gloom. For all the places where battles have raged this year, not one has ended in defeat. Time and again – in Louisiana, Idaho, California, Arizona, and soon (we hope) in Colorado – solar supporters have won the day.
But we are not going to lie – it’s getting scary out there, and we need more resources.
So we are doing the obvious thing: we invite you to join the Fellowship! Here’s how you can help: Sign up to speak up when solar rights are under attack in your state. Encourage your friends to sign up for Vote Solar emails too – every voice matters in this fight! And make a donation to help us continue the fight until sunny days prevail in the Shire, once and for all.