Solar farm at the Indianapolis Airport
Credit: Daron Cummings/AP
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA — Indiana’s energy utilities want state lawmakers to pass a law that critics say would muscle out smaller companies from the emerging solar energy market.
Solar power provides only about 1 percent of the country’s energy, but it is growing rapidly, with U.S. Energy Department figures showing solar industry employment grew 125 percent since 2010.
Much of the growth has come from homeowners or businesses taking advantage of its bill-lowering potential. That could eventually eat away at the business of the big utilities — in Indiana Duke Energy, Vectren and Indiana Michigan Power — which have a powerful voice and donate handsomely to political campaigns.
Indiana legislators started debate Thursday on a proposed law that in five years would eliminate much of the financial benefit Indiana homeowners, businesses, schools and even some churches reap harvesting the sun’s rays.
Republican state Sen. Brandt Hershman’s bill would overhaul a practice called “net metering,” which allows solar panel owners to feed excess energy into the power grid in exchange […]
Storage is the non-political key to this equation. We need affordable on site energy storage ASAP so homes & businesses can take advantage of cheap solar energy and utilize it 24/7 or sell it to the neighboring home or business. This blocks the government regulated monopoly utilities from controlling solar. Regarding the political realm, once again this demonstrates government being used as a tool against the people – limiting freedom and economic opportunity. Decentralization is the way to go. This article was a good find!