Nevada's solar workers and customers reel as new rules 'shut down' industry

[MichaelSoE]

Source: Guardian

Now Nevada has raised the stakes, levying the highest charges to date and breaking with convention to impose those charges on existing customers as well as new ones.

The solar showdown pits Elon Musk, the electric car billionaire and cofounder of SolarCity, against Warren Buffett, owner of the state’s monopoly electricity provider NV Energy.

The new rules, confirmed on 12 February, raised the monthly fees to solar customers from $12.75 to $38.51 over 12 years while dramatically cutting back the rates that customers were paid earlier for feeding surplus power back into the grid from about 11 cents a kilowatt hour to about two cents.

Homeowners who are suing NV Energy in a class action estimate the new rates add 40% to their monthly bills, while reducing the amount they get paid for the solar energy their panels produce by 18%

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/23/nevada-solar-power-industry-workers-customers-costs-solarcity-elon-musk

[Matthew28]

1. This is what the republicans so called free market looks like

Isn't free and is controlled by huge corporate. This is why we need Bernie sanders.

[riversedge]

3. something similar happened in WI with Walker.

[PoliticAverse]

2. Battle over corporate welfare for billionaires. People with solar panels...

should get paid the same wholesale power rate as other producers.

[turbinetree]

4. Buffett is not a good guy ........and .........

David Cay Johnston doesn't think so and he wrote a book about Buffett and others (Free Lunch----------very good reading), which says about all you want to know about this guy and others.

He is not someone that is holier than thou --------------its about returns----------------for profit------------- simple and to corner a market----------------------simple economic 101 capitalist----------who likes monopolies or oligarchies


http://www.powells.com/book/free-lunch-how-the-wealthiest-americans-enrich-themselves-at-government-expense-stick-you-with-the-bill-9781591842484

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/truthdigger_of_the_week_david_cay_johnston_20140907

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/09/25/607629/-A-word-about-Warren-Buffett-corporate-socialist-extrordinaire


Honk------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[Botany]

5. If the democrats can not get every single republican ALEC sucker run from office this year .....

..... after this stunt in Nevada then what is the point of the party? The sun comes free to
your home and you can make clean renewable energy which helps to save the planet and
saves you money and "they" block it? Time to come out and crush those Koch run bastards.

[jpak]

6. How dare those homeowners generate their own electricity

Don't they know they are slaves to Monopoly Utilities?

[Jopin Klobe]

7. So, if you're not in a Union ...

... they don't want you to pay even though the Union has won concessions for you ...

... but you HAVE to pay the oligarchs if you don't participate in buying electricity from the oligarchs ...

... and don't even TRY to talk about "line maintenance", etc., because they get all kinds of breaks and tax exclusions in all of their black hole laws and regulations that they pay their "professional ploiticians" for ...

BERNIE 2016. (period)

[8 track mind]

8. Congratulations Nevada

Enjoy your new republican leadership! The democrats that live there warned you repeatedly

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. 11 cents per kWh sounds really high

The fee increase is ridiculous, but paying 11 cents per kWh sounds high to me. I only pay 10.1 for my electricity in Texas, and that's for 100% green power. It seems to me that if they charge peak and off peak rates, the pay back rate to solar users should be a percentage of that. 2 cents would be too low during peak hours.

But then, I think all utilities should be owned by the people.