On the larger scale, Rocky Mountain Power has proposed tackling that issue with a fixed monthly fee, a lower per-kilowatt hour rate and a demand charge for rooftop solar customers. We don’t want to be the ones that sit back and don’t tackle a complicated issue.” “Part of the reason we’re trying to be methodical is we recognize a lot of people are watching what we’re doing. “This is such a new issue throughout the entire industry and one that can certainly be divisive,” said Kaysville Mayor Steve Hiatt. The city council is working to form a power advisory board staffed with experts to advise elected officials on issues like solar. I don’t think we should create laws and put penalties in place to prevent either one of them from flourishing.”Īfter hearing feedback from residents like Loveless and advocacy groups like Utah Clean Energy, Kaysville city quickly backpedaled, reinstating net metering but pondering future options. “If you’re squelching solar, you’re squelching the electric car movement as well. “People who get solar are more likely to buy electric cars so their fuel will be free, and that there can solve half our air quality problems,” he said. “Why pay to burn something and pollute the air when you can use energy that falls from the sky for free?”īeyond that, Loveless said, solar could contribute to clearing the Wasatch Front’s polluted skies. It’s the ultimate independence,” Loveless said. “I think it’s really cool to have energy that falls from the sky for free. He has 24 panels that charge his electric car and essentially make his home a “net zero” power consumer. He also explained some of solar’s appeal for residential customers. It makes sense to do a moratorium if there’s so much solar it’s causing problems, affecting the stability of the grid, but that only happens when half the customers have solar and there are ways around that,” he said. John Loveless, an electric engineer and rooftop solar enthusiast, was among those upset. The city soon found itself in hot water as solar-supporting citizens protested. In June 2015, Kaysville tried to put a moratorium on net metering to evaluate how to keep costs low for all electric customers. In other words, non-solar customers end up paying a disproportionate cost of maintaining the grid. “Some people say, ‘I’m generating my own load … I don’t want to pay anything to utility,’ so all those costs are being shipped to their neighbors.” “Basically, the traditional model doesn’t work because everyone isn’t using it,” said Allen Johnson, the power department director for Bountiful city. It takes money to keep that infrastructure running - a cost power providers traditionally built into their per-kilowatt hour price. UAMPS members get their power through a variety of means, like hydropower, locally owned gas plants and shares in larger coal-fired plants, and they maintain their own power lines. UAMPS supports 34 community-owned memb ers in Utah that provide their own power, and they’re struggling with similar issues. Rocky Mountain Power, the largest provider of electricity in Utah, has received a lot of flak for its recent proposal to increase charges to rooftop solar customers. The problem with net metering for utilities large and small is that it does not adequately distribute the costs of maintaining the infrastructure. “Having said that, there is still very much a need to have a baseload energy system and a strong grid. “UAMPS leadership doesn’t believe our members should fight it, but we should embrace it, lead it and encourage it,” he said.
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