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Very much this. We were in the middle of designing and installing a total solar array for our farm when the state ended every single subsidy and electricity buy

Very much this. We were in the middle of designing and installing a total solar array for our farm when the state ended every single subsidy and electricity buyback plan. We could install all the solar panels we want, but any electricity we pump into the grid is done for free (we don't get paid) and any power we take from the grid we pay 100% for with no credit for any power we pushed upstream. This forced us to increase the panel array size by another 25% to 30% to make sure we had more coverage, increase the battery storage we needed, and increased the breakeven point to more than 30 years. We decided to not do it. For a world that needs more renewable energy (I sort of hate that term) politicians work awful hard to make it not happen.

ozzydave 4y ago
In this case it’s really on the executives at the utilities, who have a lot of power over the local politicians. This podcast did a great explainer: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/dvhz9ab https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/dvhz9ab
zo1 4y ago
It's not just in the US that this sort of thing happens. Sitting here in sunny South Africa, where we have regular rolling/controlled blackouts (load-shedding) because the utilities simply aren't able to generate enough electricity to cover all the demand. You'd think they'd incentivize people generating their own solar like crazy, but they don't. They actively punish people that push back to the grid with onerous requirements. The dirty little secret is that a lot of us have "old" "analog" electricity meters, which can literally go backwards when you push to the grid, which many do.