Ohio utilities feel burned by solar-energy users (Columbus, Worthington: 2014, house)

[RiverLover11]

Ohio utilities feel burned by solar-energy users

The Columbus Dispatch Sunday November 2, 2014

"People like Jack Hedge scare utility executives. He has rooftop solar panels that generate more electricity than his house needs.

“My electric bill was zero most of the year,” the 66-year-old Worthington man said.

Utilities, such as Columbus-based American Electric Power, say their current rate structure doesn’t allow them to cover costs related to renewable-energy owners. The result, the companies say, is that the costs get passed on to other consumers.

The debate over how utilities treat rooftop solar is at the heart of a case heading to the Ohio Supreme Court.

...To fight this, utility companies and industry groups are proposing additional surcharges for solar owners. They are also ramping up a campaign to frame the issue in terms of income inequality, arguing that wealthy solar owners receive subsidies that are unavailable to the many people who struggle to pay their electricity bills."

Ohio utilities feel burned by solar-energy users | The Columbus Dispatch


Another reason electing Big Busine$$ reps & judges yesterday is a travesty for our state.

[RustBeltOptimist]

AEP made $15 billion last year, and earnings of almost $3 per share. They now want to charge homeowners that can afford to go off the grid because they've squeezed all they can from everybody else. Something tells me they'll do just fine if they don't get more profits mandated by the government.

[ohioaninsc]

You know Kasich will do so something like make it illegal to become self sufficient...or at the very least take away tax breaks for installing solar panels on your house.

[Clevelander17]

I'm anxiously awaiting the day that these renewable sources can completely replace fossil fuels and their powerful lobbies. It could happen soon, as long as these "capitalists" in the legacy energy industries aren't allowed to act as anti-competitive obstructionists.

[RiverLover11]

Originally Posted by RustBeltOptimist

AEP made $15 billion last year, and earnings of almost $3 per share. They now want to charge homeowners that can afford to go off the grid because they've squeezed all they can from everybody else. Something tells me they'll do just fine if they don't get more profits mandated by the government.

Well said.

[hensleya1]

If we were to get serious about reducing energy demand on the grid, we would put solar panels on top of every house and building in the whole country and route each of them to a regulator/inverter box that could combine the output of the solar panels with whatever is available from the grid.

For all the talk about solar panels being useless at night because batteries suck... why not just run a water pump during the day using your excess electricity generated and fill a tank. Place that tank high, as high as you can. At night, use the stored water in the tank to turn a turbine and generate electricity when the sun isn't shining.

Boom, I've just solved the battery problem.

[IDtheftV]

You are right about using water to store energy. The reservoir desn't have to be near the solar panels, however. It could be 100 miles away on a hill or mountain.

You don't need a dedicated reservoir for each home. 100 home solar installations could power the storage system.

Energy can also be stored using liquid salt or flywheels. Chemical batteries are only good for transportation needs or for UPS's.