The same Edison Electric Institute that warned electric utilities
that distributed solar is already eating their lunch has codified
a net metering talking point that utilities are pushing to try
to shade solar power.
It’s not working.

Power play: Utilities want solar users to pay up
Mark Koba wrote for CNBC yesterday,

Power play: Utilities want solar users to pay up,

But some experts say the mere fact that utilities—

which generate $360 billion a year in energy sales—are battling with
solar indicates the threat it now poses to them.

“The success of solar power is forcing utilities to rethink their
business model and push for the changes,” said Franc Del Fosse, an
energy industry lawyer and partner at Snell & Wilmer. “If you have
an individual putting solar panels on the roof, it’s easy to suggest
that a utility is making less money.”

The effort for higher fees on solar panel users could backfire, said
Alan Beale, general manager of SolarMax.

If the fees are too high, he said, “it will just delay … the
inevitable, and more companies and individuals will go to the
independent energy producers.”

Sure, even before

Edison Electric Institute codified that net metering talking point in September 2013,
Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company,
was on that same talking point
back in May 2013 at the SO stockholder meeting
and I’ve head Paul Bowers, CEO of Georgia Power, on the same talking point.
They always seem to forget to mention what
AustinEnergy discovered:
in reduced wear on their lines and deferred need to produce more power,
among other benefits, rooftop solar actually is worth more
to utilities than the power the utilities generate.
I’ll say again what I’ve said to Bowers and Fanning
and published in the newspaper:
let rooftop solar generators and solar farms sell through your grid
and take a percentage, and then everybody will win.

Back to the article:

Even as they push for net metering changes, utilities are jumping on
the solar bandwagon.

“We’ve invested in a solar distribution firm ourselves,” said
Carver.

It’s solar time, Georgia Power and Southern Company!
Jump on the bandwagon or get left behind.

-jsq