Net Metering and Edison Pricing

I have been dealing with Edison for the last year and a half concerning its policies regarding solar energy. I would say that my luck with them has been as good as Doug Nason’s (“Edison Meter Policy Zaps Solar Users,” Golden State, Oct. 11).

I too had the same attitude about Edison as columnist Michael Hiltzik did when he first started questioning its policies.

It has been a long and hard road for me to understand the reasons. There are five fairgrounds in Edison’s area that have put in solar, based on Edison’s numbers, that are seeing little or no benefit because of Edison’s rate structures.

Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. are the only suppliers that refuse to work to improve the situation. Edison has been saying to me that it is the state Public Utilities Commission, but in reality the PUC does not write the rate structures; it just votes on what Edison puts before it. The net metering law is being wrongly interpreted by Edison, and nobody wants to do anything about it.

Edison is getting away with murder and nobody really understands how it works, thereby creating the illusion that nothing is really wrong.

Dan Jacobs

General Manager

50th District

Agricultural Assn.

Antelope Valley Fair

Lancaster

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Michael Hiltzik’s column fails to consider an important fact: Edison built and operates the grid at significant cost. If something goes wrong, the company is on the hook to fix or improve it.

To maintain and improve such a vast system, Edison does need to be able to impose reasonable rules and fees for those who derive their energy from other providers.

We sell solar electric systems to homes and businesses, and we think net metering provides benefits to solar customers by allowing them to count excess production for use at night and on cloudy days. In a nation where building new electrical generation plants is difficult and costly, where sunshine is a viable alternative, Edison and solar electric systems can coexist with some flexibility on both sides.

Steven M. Arthur

Energy Efficiency Solar

Pomona