Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
When I think of places that would be ideally suited for taking advantage of solar power, Arizona is high on the list. There are approximately 20,000 Arizona buildings utilizing solar collection technology to replace or supplement normal power sources. However, that number may soon decrease if a new “solar tax” is implemented.
“A new interpretation of state law in Arizona could force customers to pay property taxes on leased solar panels. In a state with an estimated 20,000 solar customers and 85 percent of new solar installations being leased systems, the implications of an extra charge are tremendous. The new tax could result in an additional $152 per year for a residential solar array and even more for larger installations, the Arizona Republic reported. What’s more, the tax would apply to both new and existing customers.” Think Progress
At first glance, I guess it should not surprise anyone that a new tax may be initiated. However, when that tax is a tax on solar panels on commercial and residential buildings and includes solar panel arrays that are leased, it raised some eyes in Arizona. Why would the State of Arizona decide on a tax on the collection of power of the sun? The answer may surprise you.
“So, who would support the effort to charge solar customers more money? Solar advocates in Arizona point to the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service Company (APS).
Leasing solar panels is often the only option for middle class customers who want to go solar but can’t afford the cost of purchasing the array. And as rooftop solar in particular booms across the U.S., it’s middle class families that are leading the way — posing a real threat to utilities like APS. In fact, “solar technology is being overwhelmingly adopted in middle-class neighborhoods in the U.S., as more than 60 percent of solar installations are occurring in zip codes with median incomes ranging from $40,000 to $90,000,” according to a recent analysis by Mari Hernandez of the Center for American Progress. This trend has utility companies “worried that rooftop solar may undermine their business models as more of their customers go solar and buy less power from them,” Hernandez explained.” Think Progress
I guess maybe I should not be surprised that the APS may be against technology that allows its customers to buy less energy from the utility. I guess I should also not be surprised who APS has teamed up with in order to fight the use of solar power in Arizona.
The public utility has ties with ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the state regulatory body also has very strong connections to ALEC. “In the ongoing fight over whether Arizona will continue its remarkable expansion of solar energy, a ThinkProgress analysis reveals four of five members of the state’s energy regulator are tied to the conservative anti-clean energy group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
The fight centers on Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the state’s largest utility, versus solar energy companies over how much customers should be compensated for the energy produced by solar panels installed on their homes and businesses. APS believes customers receive too much credit for the excess energy produced by their panels while the industry maintains changing the policy, known as net-metering, would devastate their promising and rapidly expanding industry.
The state’s energy regulator, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), is expected to begin hearings on the net-metering proposal in November. Four of the five commissioners are members of ALEC, the group backed by fossil fuel interests, major corporations and the ultra-conservative Koch brothers. In 2012, ALEC dedicated its efforts to dismantling renewable energy laws around the country and though they failed completely in that effort, leaked documents from their recent annual meeting indicates they have no intention of backing down from the fight against clean energy.” Think Progress 2
Doesn’t it seem that the Koch Brothers have their dirty energy fingers in just about everything? As we have seen in the linked articles, the new tax would benefit the public energy utility to the detriment of many middle class consumers who are trying to save a few dollars in energy cost, while at the same time supporting the goal of using cleaner energy sources. It is interesting that the idea of a new tax is proposed by the same organization and its backers that are against other clean energy supporting taxes that would negatively impact their corporate interests.
According to the free market proponents like ALEC and the Koch Brothers, the market is only free when it benefits their interests. Everyone else, including the planet be damned. The fact that many of the consumers who would be disadvantaged by this solar tax would be middle class homeowners is just icing on the cake for ALEC.
It bears repeating that the additional cost of the tax would range from approximately $152.00 per year for a residential array and $9867.00 per year for a large commercial installation. Is the Arizona Public Service Company trying to destroy the solar industry?
Will the ALEC packed state regulatory commission find in favor of the ALEC proposal or will it back the solar energy industry and residential and commercial consumers? What do you think?
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Paul,
I am a Christian. Episcopalian to be exact. Those folks feynman and Annie reference are “christianists,” because they have hijacked the teachings and turned them into something Jesus and his disciples would not even recognize.
Chuck – as my father used to say, you can put a handle on a printing press but that does not make it portable. English is an ever moving language, but I have trouble with labeling people for their religious beliefs, unless they do the labeling.
Feynman, yes, “The Poisonwood Bible” is an excellent book.
No it’s Christianists to me and a lot of other people.
Brown just juggled the books and kicked the debt can down the road a bit, the debt is there and growing just hiding behind smoke and mirrors.
Karen,
“Rivers of blood”???? Is that literally, Rivers of Blood? Either he was there during the Rwandan genocide or he needs to read fewer dime novels.
Best book I’ve read concerning that sort of journey – The Poisonwood Bible. Great book.
And I also have NO fear about S’haria law. I am terrified of Christianist law. The Supremes took us one step closer to it yesterday. And I am big, very big, on choice. And not killing doctors. And contraception. Oh, yes, I believe in contraception. Also sex education in schools. I believe those opinions would put me at odds with a whole lot of Christianists.
Karen,
When was our credit rating downgraded?
Wasn’t it downgraded when the Republicans looked like they were not going to raise the debt ceiling which would have resulted in our default.??
Foolish, foolish, Republicans. IMO, they are not fit to govern – pulling stunts like that.
But maybe you need to consult the Republicans on that little hissy fit.
CA debt…
I thought I read that Brown was pulling it back from the abyss?
And CA wrote some awful Prop. that prohibited increasing taxes. And they had a gridlocked legislature.
But bottom line…..balanced budgets are a terrible thing in a recession. Then you’re like AZ and have to sell the capitol.
It is Christians not Christianists
Here is why they downgrade credit
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ratings-firm-downgrades-us-credit/
Paul Schulte, I know you do, but why is it that some people do not want to understand that raising taxes and more government spending, doesn’t in the long run create economic growth and prosperity. If you study the 1st depression, you can determine how the increased spending and greater taxation crippled the recovery which caused it to last so long; almost 15 years. It’s really basic Econ 101. If you raise taxes, that causes prices to rise and rising prices causes less employment and lower wages as they must cut costs to compete. And people now wonder why we’re in a period of stagflation; slowly encroaching inflation with a stagnant economic. Some suggest if you separate the military industrial complex out of the GDP numbers, it would show us in a depression already. Building an F18 fighter is not productive.
We have enough knowledge to know what the long term negative ramifications of socialized medicine will be. The forced participation will hurt us as it will drive up prices. With the FDA and other federal agencies in charge of treatment methods, the alternative medical community will be hit even harder by regulatory and costs problems. People will be forced into cancer and other treatments that do not work very often just because it’s makes big money for special interests like the hospitals and/or the pharmaceutical companies. People have studies the other systems around the world and they have their problems just as we have ours.
Don’t get me wrong, our current system is pretty bad but that is because it is rifled with huge amounts of government taxation and regulation. http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/reforming-americas-medical-system-through-deregulation
We’ve had the opportunity to see government in action now for some 50 years. Thinking that they will just all of a sudden start doing the right thing is not realistic. As we’ve experienced and observed central planning and the failed redistribution of wealth schemes are their life line to power, wealth and privilege.
Today, almost every social problem we had 50 years ago is even worse and government, individual welfare and corporate welfare have all grown exponentially. Go figure, as we’re taught in K-12 socialism and communism do not work, as it penalizes the productive to the benefit of the unproductive, thus nobody ends up wanting to work and pay for it. Just ask the people of the ex-Soviet Union how that worked out for them; they had free medicine.
I think ignoring the economic ramifications that socialism causes best explains those that indorse it as a social policy. They have not yet figured out that social engineering does not work and are to arrogant to admit it, thus they must ignore the contraindications. Much like people ignore the contraindications of the pharmaceutical drugs they take. Actually most people don’t even read them because it is better for them not to know.
hskiprob – if you want to see our coming medical fiasco keep the VA hospital scandal in view. It is only going to get worse. This is how our government, under Obama, both treats its veterans and runs health care.
Karen, Christians don’t reject the old testament in its entirety, they pick and choose.
Yep about half the country shares it Feynman. It will be interesting to see what half has the slight majority, come election times.
Karen,
China owns about 9% of our debt.
Most of our debt is owned by us. Please look it up.
Cities and states are more likely to fall into bankruptcy because they are compelled to have balanced budgets and are loathe to raise taxes. Those governments have also neglected (screwed) paying their share of public pensions. And those pensions became a big problem when the financial markets collapsed during the Bush administration.
Karen,
No problem. It’s your position and you are welcome to it.
Karen,
Regarding the use of “any reasonable person’. Well, dang. I guess I’m just an unreasonable person.
I’m sure you are aware we have had debt since the Revolutionary War. The debt goes up. And the debt goes down. Debt especially goes up during wars. And if you CUT taxes and then order up two wars – you’re gonna have debt. Let’s call Bush.
Annie – you’re talking about old testament laws.
And absolutely, fundamentalists are all the same. Just some have a lot more power and leeway to run amuck because they run entire regions. People who disagree have to keep quiet or emigrate.
Feynman:
Like it or don’t like it. It’s my position.
This is an excellent article outlining the grave errors in Paul Krugman’s reasoning:
http://moneymorning.com/2012/01/09/paul-krugman-is-dead-wrong-debt-matters/
Please, anyone who felt assured on the debt from reading Krugman, read this article. Krugman asserted that debts don’t matter because interest rates have not risen. But interest rates are not free to rise with the market – they are set by the Federal Reserve, which has kept them at historic lows. And he claims the WWII debt was never paid off, which of course is wrong. Bonds matured and were paid. And just because we kept adding to our debt does not mean that this is the same debt from 70 years ago.
And he goes on from there. This should clarify things.
The Nobel Prize does give him some cache. But please remember that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize before he actually did anything. And then he went on to continue wars, target people with drones, including American citizens, spy on everyone via the NSA, send functioning weapons to Mexican drug cartels via a revamped Fast and Furious that was ended under Bush (and used non-functional weapons with tracking systems) and use the IRS to target conservatives. So . . . not much of a peaceful fella.
Karen,
Time to get another correspondent.
I disagree with your assessment and object to the very mushy and meaningless “I’m not committed to any particular program”. Spoken like any candidate at a Republican debate. And I responded to your concerns about lunch programs. I thought they were intended to make it difficult to run a program to feed poor kids. CDC and all that rigamarolle.
Media provide conservatives with uncountable opportunities to voice their opinion. Not too many liberal voices on Fox. Believe me, conservatives are allowed to publish, say, appear on Sunday Showz everyday. Heck, Joe Scarborough is on MSNBC. Not much equal time for liberals. And Joe’s sidekick is not much of a counterweight. Hannity got rid of Combs a long time ago and that wasn’t too much of a loss for liberals. Combs was useless.
Anyway, you’re absolutely ‘allowed’ your opinions. Just don’t expect us to agree with them.
Oh yes, let’s not forget the Bible’s admonition against gays. Let’s not forget those Christian ( Scott Lively’s bunch) missionaries that influenced certain African countries and even Russia regarding gays and laws against them.
Not Sharia law, no ma’am. Not Chrisianist law either. Because the Bible also has a sorts of laws regarding women. Fundamentalists of all stripes are dangerous to any society.
Feynman – you’re right. Africa has been a bloody continent for quite some time. So violent and unstable.
I recall reading, years ago, the account of a black journalist who journeyed to see the roots of his kidnapped slave ancestors. He described rivers of blood, and decided he was much better off in the US, regardless of the great and terrible wrongs done to his ancestors. The past is neither excused nor forgotten, but the present does matter, too.
Annie – you bet. I would not want Sharia law here, where gays and rape victims get stoned.
Yes, Paul, I think I will keep the phrase “spirally debt.” Gives it a lazy, looping aspect instead of the frantic pace it currently exhibits.