http://blog.hcn.org/goat/2008/02/05/one-solar-power-program-mostly-benefits-wealthy-people/ The Last Best Place for a Nuclear Waste Dump Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:38:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://blog.hcn.org/goat/2008/02/05/one-solar-power-program-mostly-benefits-wealthy-people/#comment-6322 Sol Shapiro Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:05:59 +0000 http://blog.hcn.org/goat/2008/02/05/one-solar-power-program-mostly-benefits-wealthy-people/#comment-6322 You don't have to go to California to find the "poor family in a 3 room apartment" subsidizing the rich. Amendment 37 in Colorado and its "son" HB 1281 are doing just this. Xcel Energy has provided me with input that the Renewable Eneergy charge on their ratepayers electric bill converts to a subsidy for photovoltaics on rich people's roofs of about 31 cents per kilowatt hour. This money, if spent for central station renewables such as solar thermal which have about 1/2 the capital cost of pv and can store energy for overnight use would benefit all ratepayers and would truly move us on a path toward a renewables future. The pv industry has done a great job of obfuscating the marginal benefit of their product as a distributed resource. You don’t have to go to California to find the “poor family in a 3 room apartment” subsidizing the rich. Amendment 37 in Colorado and its “son” HB 1281 are doing just this. Xcel Energy has provided me with input that the Renewable Eneergy charge on their ratepayers electric bill converts to a subsidy for photovoltaics on rich people’s roofs of about 31 cents per kilowatt hour.
This money, if spent for central station renewables such as solar thermal which have about 1/2 the capital cost of pv and can store energy for overnight use would benefit all ratepayers and would truly move us on a path toward a renewables future. The pv industry has done a great job of obfuscating the marginal benefit of their product as a distributed resource.

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