This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Rocky Mountain Power must be joking. I just received an email from RMP informing me that "if everyone enrolled in our Blue Sky renewable energy program, we could support enough renewable energy to have an equivalent impact of avoiding over 7 million tons of CO2 in one year." RMP then asks me to spend at least $1.95 a month ("You choose your participation level") to enroll in the program to purchase wind power.

Hmmm. Let me see. I am a consumer who paid $25,000 two years ago to install rooftop solar that generates 90 percent of my home's solar needs in the hottest months, contributing my excess production into the public grid when I don't need it.

But RMP has recently proposed to the Utah Public Service Commission that it be allowed to levy an additional tax of $4.65 /month on rooftop solar customers! As the Sierra Club points out, rooftop solar customers actually increase RMP's profit, saving over $1.4 million annually in avoided energy costs.

So OK, RMP is a greedy monopoly that wants to rake in profit anywhere it can, but it shouldn't pretend to be otherwise. I made the investment in renewable energy; RMP wants to charge me more for it, and then wants to ask me to pitch in more besides.

Annette Ephroni

Salt Lake City