OPINION

Yes, rate hikes for solar make sense

Letters to the editor

EDITOR: A recent guest column by Nick Hylla, executive director of a special-interest renewable energy group in the Midwest, took a complicated debate about the role of customer-owned solar systems in our electric grid and turned it into a biased attack on Wisconsin utilities and the state Public Service Commission.

As the executive director of the Fair Rates for Wisconsin's Dairyland coalition and a former commissioner for the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, allow me to present the other side of the story.

There is no denying that consumer-generated electricity is growing, and it is a fact that consumers who generate their own electricity still use the electric grid. These new developments make determining how to fairly pay for the electric system a challenge for policymakers — public service commissions — across the country.

On one hand, owners of solar systems contend they are providing electricity to the grid (called net metering) while at the same time adding peripheral benefits, such as avoiding fuel costs, added distribution lines and upgrades to transmission systems.

Utilities believe net metering causes them to buy electricity at retail prices, often at times when they don't need it. And they contend customer-owned solar is not paying its fair share of the costs for lines and transmission. The obvious result is a cost-shift to the other customers of the utility who are now subsidizing their neighbors' use of electricity when their solar systems don't provide enough power.

The Wisconsin PSC has sided with the utilities, allowing them to raise the fixed costs that customers pay each month to cover the discrepancy. Hylla blames utilities without acknowledging the role customer-owned solar systems play in this delicate balancing act.

Improvements in technology, efficiency and economics make it clear that distributed generation will be a larger part of the electric system that brings power to Wisconsin homes and businesses. FRWD supports the expansion of distributed generation; in fact, we support all generation and believe a diverse portfolio is in the best interest of the consumer.

Most important, we support fair and equitable funding for the operation of our electric system.

Mark Meyer,

Madison

The writer is executive director of Fair Rates for Wisconsin's Dairyland, online at www.fairwisconsinrates.com.