"Facts Not Ads"

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Currently (pun intended) the El Paso Electric Company, which has the highest rates of any city in Texas, has filed a rate case for a rate hike. EPEC also intends to continue its efforts to undermine the solar rooftop industry in El Paso. The slide show above was created by Blanca Gadney-Moss, a professional counselor in El Paso, and a strong advocate for solar power. She is a member of Eco-El Paso and the Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Committee. 

Solar Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels or Wind . . .

. . . in developing countries such as China, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, and India. Here are links for more information:

From Bloomberg Technology: World Energy Hits a Turning Point: Solar That's Cheaper Than Wind

From EcoWatch: It's Official: Solar Energy Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels

It is not the case here in the United States - yet. Nor will it be for a long time. We are still heavily invested in coal and natural gas to generate energy. But there is good news: U.S. Solar Surges in Record-Breaking Quarter.

Here in El Paso we know that El Paso Electric will ask for a rate hike very soon in January. They will probably go after rooftop solar again perhaps next summer. I'm still in favor of some kind of subsidy for those who install solar - a break on their property tax or a refund. Maybe it is time to deregulate the energy industry in El Paso. Let EPEC go head to head with the solar industry.

A Modest Proposal

At this time I am very skeptical about utilities ever working with the rooftop solar industry. What the utilities want is an assurance that they will be the only game in town. If they own the solar panels, that's one thing. If you own the panels, that's another. Besides, the Koch Brothers and the petroleum industry do not want to lose control of their monopoly over energy. That is, of course, until peak oil has really peaked. By that time, the dinosaurian oil and gas industry will just about become extinct.

As Jim Schwarzbach posted yesterday on Citizens Against El Paso Electric's Attack on Solar, EPEC believes that it "has an inalienable right to any and all rate increases" and that they are "entitled to anything and everything they ask for."

By the way a prominent El Paso businessman who does business on both sides of the border told me yesterday that he pays more for electricity in El Paso than he does in Juarez. El Paso already has the highest rates in Texas.

So, here is my modest proposal. For every additional fee (or whatever EPEC calls it) that they tack on to the bill of rooftop solar owners, those owners get twice that amount by way of a reduction in or refund on their property taxes.

El Paso can go a step farther. They can reduce the cost of going solar by the same means—a property-tax reduction or refund.

Sooner or later, when there are so many mini-generating stations on homes and businesses, the City can tell EPEC that they are no longer needed … or even wanted for that matter.

Cards Stacked Against Solar

Very bad news. The Director of the Tariff and Rate Analysis for the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) filed his office's report with the PUCT yesterday. Here is the report's summary:

"EPE's requested establishment of a Partial Requirements rate class with a three-part rate design that includes a demand charge is a reasonable move towards more just and reasonable rates, is not unreasonably discriminatory or prejudicial towards distributed generation owners, and should be approved. The recommendations of parties opposed to this proposal should be rejected."

Jim Schwarzbach posted on the Facebook page Citizens Against El Paso Electric's Attack on Solar: "Goes to show how badly the deck is stacked against solar."

Indeed it is because Texas ought to change its name to "BigOilandia". (Check out how the University of Texas profits from their land holdings and the air pollution and spills for which that powerful institution is responsible for.) The petroleum industry, which brings you all the free methane that you will ever want along with destruction of ecosystems, earthquakes and water pollution with fracking, does not want any energy competitors. Ditto for power utilities. The result is a concerted effort all across the country to destroy the solar industry. 

You know who owns the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality not to mention the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and most of the Legislature. If you don't know, just start looking at campaign contributions.

If you want to read El Paso Electric's playbook on solar just read the position paper on net metering by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, "the primary political advocacy group" (Wikipedia) of the Koch Boys. David is currently chairman.

Rooftop Solar Makes Sense - EPEC Just Wants to Steal

The State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) "partners with Texas consumers, businesses, educators and local governments to reduce energy costs and maximize efficiency." In December 2008 they issued a report: Texas Energy Resource Assessment. To save you from reading all 196 pages, Plano Solar Advocates wrote a summary today,Valuing Distributed Generation.

The bottom-line is this: "Small renewable energy generation systems located at the point of use capture the benefits of renewable energy while reducing utility costs." These "generation systems" consist of "rooftop solar water heaters and solar electric systems, small wind energy generating systems, and ground-source heat pumping systems."

The report recommends that energy sources (such as rooftop solar) are critical to providing power within a distributed, aggregated system. In other words, we aren't dependent on one source of power - e.g., El Paso Electric Company power stations. Those who add this power to the system - rooftop solar users - should receive compensation for the energy that they produce. To do so requires net metering. The report recommends incentives for small renewable energy generation and fair compensation through net metering.

The El Paso Electric Company wants just the opposite. They want to destroy the rooftop solar industry in sunny El Paso and continue their monopoly of power. The huge natural gas and coal lobbies are behind them. They want you to buy from them and only them. 

If you want to know what can happen to El Paso and to El Paso jobs, read Nevada solar industry collapses after state lets power company raise fees. The Nevada power and utility commission granted the state's one utility, Nevada Energy, the ability to raise the fees and rates that rooftop solar users must pay. In essence Nevada Energy has now turned all rooftop solar panels into one big solar farm for themselves. Who is stealing from whom? Yet EPEC continues to lie that solar owners in El Paso aren't paying their fair share. Read between the lines. Solar owners (and all of us) must pay for the infrastructure needed because EPEC wants to remain its monopoly and do so on the bucks and backs of ratepayers rather than shareholders.

Should Low Flush Toilet Users Pay a Higher Rate for Their Water?

Want to know what to do with El Paso Electric Company's rate hike proposals and attack on solar?

Western water blogger, John Fleck, informs us today about the fact that using low-flush toilets is helping to conserve water across the country:

"Every toilet currently in stock at my local Home Depot has the EPA WaterSense label, even the cheapest ones, meaning they use 1.28 gallons per flush or less. This is a big part of why we see water use – on a per capita basis, but also in some cases on an absolute basis – going down in the United States."

Before the Energy Policy Act of 1992, toilets used 3 to 5 gallons of water when flushing. After implementation, toilets have used just 1.6 gallons. Now comes the 1.28 gallon per flush toilet. As Fleck shows in his graphs, low flush toilets have really contributed to water conservation (and money savings by owners).

So, why doesn't the El Paso Water Utilities/Public Service Board follow the example of the El Paso Electric Company? Shouldn't low flush toilet owners be put in a separate class of rate-payers who must pay higher rates for their water? These customers are using less water, so according to EPEC's logic, they are not contributing their fair share to the costs of infrastructure.

EPEC wants to put rooftop solar users into a new rate class and make them pay for electrons at a higher rate. They argue that these nefarious solar panel owners are stealing from their neighbors because they don't pay their fair share for new capital projects which benefit EPEC shareholders - not to mention benefiting EPEC executives and board members who are richly compensated for coming up with more ways to make you and me pay more.

So, why doesn't EPWU follow the example of EPEC? I suggest it's because EPWU/PSB has honesty and integrity and is fully aware that water conservation means that there is less of a need for new infrastructure except what's required by water scarcity, a reality all of us share.

The Friday Video: Solar Power Works in Arizona -- So Why Do Utilities Want to Kill It?

The video above applies so well to El Paso right now. El Paso Electric Company wants to crush the solar industry and keep control of your supply of electricity. They falsely claim that solar users are not paying their fair share for the infrastructure. Yet, the rooftop solar industry means that there is less of a need for infrastructure which really means that there is no reason to raise anyone's rates. 

[By the way, if you receive elpasonaturally by email, the embedded video won't be displayed. Please go to www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com to see it.]

El Paso Electric is part of a nationwide cabal of utilities (and big oil and gas) to destroy the rooftop solar industry. Read more HERE.

To save your choice for rooftop solar in El Paso, many groups are raising their voices against the rate hike proposals by EPEC. Eco-El Paso provides us, the ratepayers, with some action items against those hike proposals. Check it out.

Click on image to enlarge.

The Alliance for Solar Choice
The Alliance for Solar Choice Facebook
Citizens Against El Paso Electric's Attack on Solar