This week, we gave you two extremely bullish projections for the future of solar energy in America.

The focus was on distributed generation in both cases. This includes all solar installations – even small ones on your home rooftop.

Interestingly, the renewable energy revolution is being led by independent power producers and not mainline utility companies.

While net generation among the former has climbed 1,283% since September 2006, electricity from solar gained just 112% for the latter during the same period.

Currently, solar still only meets less than 1% of U.S electricity needs. And it will stay that way for a while.

That’s because some big utilities are actively resisting solar, arguing that the cost of net metering schemes – which allow renewable energy users to sell back excess power to – are often being paid by residents who can’t afford solar.

Here’s how Dave Gram of the Associated Press recently quoted a rep for a small utility in Vermont, which is being forced to roll back its net metering scheme:

Not collecting those costs from all members ‘results in a cost shift to those members without net metered installations,’ Washington’s general manager, Patricia Richards, said in an email. ‘As a not for profit electric […]