Letter: ALEC out to sink solar power

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

I have learned that the Edison Electric Institute, the lobbying organization for the electric power industry, has launched a national campaign to obstruct solar power generation. On behalf of the Edison Institute, and fossil fuel producers, led by the Koch brothers, the American Legislative Exchange Council has produced "model" bills to block the development of solar power.

The ALEC model anti-solar bills call for legislating surcharges on residential and other solar installations which can feed power back into the grid; and for repealing laws which 29 states have passed requiring that some fraction of the state's power be obtained from renewable sources. So far, this national campaign has managed to stay under the radar.

Rocky Mountain Power's proposal to place a surcharge on accounts which feed solar power into the grid appears to be part of a national campaign to obstruct the development of solar power. If RMP fails to get the Public Service Commission to approve the surcharge, watch for Utah's ALEC legislators to introduce bills mandating the charges.

Brooke Jennings

Salt Lake City