Rocky Mountain Power has been trying to kill the rooftop solar industry since it started to gain popularity back in 2015. RMP claims that they are trying to protect the consumer when they are doing just the opposite. RMP is protecting their own interests.
Individual ownership of electrical-generating systems, commonly referred to as distributed generation, is direct competition to a century-old business model that RMP has enjoyed without challenge. Today’s renewable energy technology now proves that this business model no longer works. Energy can now be generated on-site with individual ownership of rooftop solar systems.
With RMP’s constant efforts to devalue an exported solar kilowatt-hour, they are denying Utahns the right to ownership of their own energy-producing systems. And by doing this, they are denying Utahns a pathway to energy independence, resilience and self-reliance (referencing the big power outage events of 2020, the earthquake and the down-sloping wind event).
And in the process, RMP is killing thousands of good-paying jobs. Thirty-four percent of the solar companies listed on Utah Clean Energy’s website are either out of business or no longer operating in the solar space. This number will only continue to grow as RMP continues to devalue solar at a March 9 hearing in front of the Utah Public Service Commission. This is an economic travesty to Utah. The state now loses the state sales tax from the solar equipment purchased and state income tax revenue generated from solar-job salaries.
The Public Service Commission continues to ignore these economic impacts and the overall economic well-being of Utah. And the PSC also ignores the environmental and health benefits that comes from a local, clean kilowatt-hour that rooftop solar provides. If this matters to you, the PSC needs to hear from you.
Tom Mills, Salt Lake City
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