Congress Asked To Eliminate $270 Million A Year In Solar Subsidies

[Spike]

Conservative groups wrote a letter to Congress Tuesday asking lawmakers on the appropriations committee to eliminate a solar subsidy program worth $270 million.

Conservatives want Congress to pull funding from the Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative, citing recent investigations that found the program provided subsidies for rooftop solar power.

The letter calls SunShot the “ground zero of the solar subsidy machine,” arguing that it gives out millions of dollars in subsidies through net metering programs. Such programs force utilities to buy the electricity from rooftop solar panels at up to six times the market price, effectively forcing non-solar residents to pay more to maintain the grid.

Researchers have found that expanding net metering or maintaining it for long periods of time will drive up power prices. Without government support from net metering, solar energy is non-viable, according to a 2015 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“Under net metering regimes, owners of rooftop solar panel installations gain from the sale of the electricity they produce,” Yeatman said. “However, they don’t contribute to upkeep of the physical infrastructure of electricity transmission and distribution.”

http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/26/congress-asked-to-eliminate-270-million-a-year-in-solar-subsidies/

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Let solar and wind power compete in the marketplace without federal government subsidies or taxpayer money.

 

[hamster]

Hey, those subsidies worked out real well for Solyndra. We have an overabundance of taxpayer's money that we need to find ways to spend.

 

[SteelChip]

Shaking head...again, still. Whatever

The corruption in this govt is beyond logical explanation. You know damn well somebody (or somebody's brother-in-law) is making money hand over fist on every give-a way deal like this..

 

[oneforthebus]

Utilities hate net metering because it's competition. It's largely regulated by the states not the feds. It also helps protect the grid by reducing generation and managing load so the argument that solar consumers "don't contribute" is bogus as well. Don't be fooled by the utilities who will fight all encroachments on their monopolies.

Although I agree the feds should stop subsidizing solar companies.