This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sunshine, or its absence, is much on the minds of Utahns these days, what with the winter solstice today and the murky daytime gloom caused by the dirty air that has enveloped the valleys. So it is an opportune time to urge the Public Service Commission to extend the subsidies for installation of solar cells on homes and businesses.
Photovoltaic cells produce electricity without burning fossil fuels. So there is a link between encouraging more people to install solar panels and reducing the air pollution that temperature inversions trap in Utah's valleys.
Admittedly, that link is a minuscule one now because the number of solar panel installations that have been subsidized by the existing program is tiny. The program's funding of $314,500 a year is only enough to encourage development of about 30 systems annually. However, the federal and state governments also provide incentives.
The Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit of 30 percent covers solar water heating and photovoltaic systems, and continues through 2016. Rocky Mountain Power's net metering program also enables owners of solar systems to sell excess electricity to the grid at market rates. Piggybacking the PSC's small incentive program on these others helps to advance the cause.
Encouraging these installations should stimulate the market for more of them, reduce unit costs and produce more electric power for the grid, thus benefiting ratepayers as a whole. In fact, the cost of solar panels has come down considerably over the last three years.
Whether the program is cost effective depends upon how the accounting is done. But the Division of Public Utilities says that by its measure, the program is cost effective to Utah ratepayers.
The PSC instituted the current five-year program in 2007. It is scheduled to expire at the end of this month. The Division of Public Utilities has recommended that the program be extended for a year, that the size of its annual kilowatts be doubled to 214 and that its budget be increased modestly to $385,000. In the meantime, a working group would be convened to design a new incentive program based on the results of the existing one. The one-year extension would be a bridge to this new program. The division also recommends that the new program expire at the same time the current federal incentives come to an end in 2016.
That sounds like a good road map. It's not going to change the world of electrical power, but should encourage more people and businesses to take the plunge into solar power.