definitely no smart alec

My mind boggles at the pure ridiculousness mentioned in this article. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has proposed a number of strategies to curtail clean and renewable energy initiatives. The strategy that really made my jaw drop was the suggestion to penalize those who have installed solar panels by charging them for feeding excess power back into the energy grid. This appears to be ludicrous. I have written before on the glee that some friends express when they receive a $0 energy bill. Much of that glee is also attributed to the part they play in addressing both climate change and an increasing demand for power.

I am fully aware of the significant costs associated with connecting homes and businesses to the energy grid. Home and business owners who install solar panels also bear considerable cost. The inequity lies with the use and 'cost' of power provision. Solar panels create energy. Excess energy is available to be fed back into the grid. Excess energy costs nothing for the Utility to generate, yet the Utility can take this power for free or for a negligible cost and on-sell it for profit. Utility companies pay significantly lower prices for excess energy than the Utility sells power to the consumer). To charge the consumer for creating excess power would seem as if the Utility companies' want their cake, and want to eat it too - TWICE!