Electric Power Companies Move To Impose Fees on Solar Energy Users — Searching for Ways to Soften the Blow of Losing Customers

Photo by Tim Fuller.

By Kiley Kroh
Wherever he goes, Mark Richards has people coming up to ask his opinion, expressing their frustration and concern.

“I’ve never seen such a hostility from residents as I have on this issue,” said Richards, partner at Woods Cross, Utah-based InterMountain Wind and Solar. “I’m amazed at the intensity I’m seeing.”

The cause of all the uproar? Utah’s main utility, Rocky Mountain Power, has proposed a new fee on its residential solar customers. While solar users make up a small percentage of RMP’s customer base — only about 2,000 people — that number is growing quickly and the prospect of paying an additional $4.25 a month is not sitting well with residents and solar installers.

Utah’s fight is indicative of a rapidly escalating tension: As rooftop solar becomes more and more mainstream, driven largely by middle class customers, utility companies across the country are looking to soften the blow to their business model by charging solar customers a monthly fee.

On the surface, it’s a heated debate over the immediate value of solar power — who pays, who benefits, and how to make the situation equitable — but the core issue is really the increasing likelihood that distributed generation sources, like rooftop solar, will completely upend the traditional utility business model.

Mike Rossetti, a resident of Draper, Utah, took the decision to invest in solar power very seriously. A little over four years ago, inspired by his wife and the tech companies he’s worked for that have made serious investments in renewable energy, he studied for an entire year and ultimately did his own solar installation (with the help of an electrician, he adds).

Rossetti has been thrilled with his decision to go solar and thinks any Utah resident who wants to do the same should have that opportunity — something he worries is jeopardized by an additional charge on solar customers. “When I heard about this net metering fee I got very concerned because the four and a quarter over a 25 year lifespan would really make a hefty chunk of a person’s investment,” he said. While Rossetti has a large 24 panel array, he recognizes most people have a much smaller system, meaning the additional charge would be an even bigger blow.

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