Readers React: New rooftop solar fees: The big utilities strike back

To the editor: California utilities have found a very cagey argument for increasing fees on solar users, invoking the “cost burden” to nonsolar customers. As a renter and ratepayer, installing solar is not an option for me, so I’m happy to support homeowners who have the roof space and the will to install solar panels. (“California regulators propose new rooftop solar fees,” Dec. 15)

The true cost burden should be measured not in cents per kilowatt hour, but in excess molecules of carbon dioxide emitted by centralized utilities that will have to rely on dirty power for years to come, and the loss of efficiency as power is transmitted over long distances to our homes.

True, the grid is a resource for all of us, but my favorite electrons are the ones that come from my neighbors next door.

Don’t be fooled by the utilities that put residential solar in their cross hairs and feign doing so out of “fairness.” This is a fight for their business model.

Michael Blieden, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I love the crocodile tears shed by these utilities as they cloak their requests for higher fees in terms like “balanced,” “sustainable growth” and “smart energy reform.”

Rooftop solar owners make an investment in the state’s energy infrastructure because doing so helps reduce the system stress on the utilities during peak hours while providing clean electricity. Usually, the cost savings owners receive will pay for the their solar panels within 10 years. That’s a 0% return on investment, with the only “profits” coming from free power for the remaining years of the panels’ life span.

Why would we make it even more costly to perform a public and environmental service?

Lon Shapiro, Chatsworth

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