By Rebecca Haynes, special to Statehouse Report | After the progress on H.4421 last week, and then the death of the bill on the final vote, I am disappointed. At the last minute of debate on this bill, a small number of House members changed the rules of the game and prevented a pro-solar jobs and pro-ratepayer bill from passing.
I’m disappointed in-House members who chose profits over people. Without this bill, when the solar net meter cap runs out in the next 12 months, utilities won’t reimburse solar customers at a fair price for the electricity they produce.
The power companies argue that this is what’s “fair” to them and their profits, but what about what’s fair for the customers? Again, the utilities and their 44 supporters in the House have made it clear that, for them, profits will always prevail over people. This is sad.
I’m disappointed in the House’s refusal to help the thousands of ratepayers suffering under high bills and who are paying for a nuclear plant that will never produce power. Now, the utilities expect those same ratepayers to pay the big utility monopolies for the profits they lose when customers generate solar power.
South Carolina ratepayers already pay the highest electricity prices in the country. Solar offered an affordable alternative to many, but the utilities won’t allow it. Instead they want us to pay for their mistakes of the failed nuclear plant AND help them cover their losses if we choose to install solar.
I’m disappointed that these 44 members of the House voted to kill more than 3,000 solar jobs in the South Carolina. The House vote essentially gives the big utility monopolies control over their small solar competitors, and will drive these solar small businesses out of South Carolina. We’ve already lost enough jobs because of poor energy planning decisions in this state.
What more do the big utility monopolies want?
Apparently, they want us to empathize with them that their earnings might take a small hit — particularly compared to the billions in profit they earn each year — if some of us install solar and they aren’t able to sell the same volume of their product.
I, for one, empathize with the residents of South Carolina instead, and am not giving up the fight. I’m not turning my back on ratepayers or solar jobs.
I see a ray of hope in the outraged responses to the utilities’ actions on Tuesday. I am hopeful for homeowners, ratepayers, the solar industry and those they employ, that we can still turn this around and save the day for solar in South Carolina.
Rebecca Haynes is deputy director of the Conservation Voters of South Carolina.
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We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Please publish the names and districts of the utilities 44 supporters in the House that killed this bill.
It is shameful the way some legislators continue to enable the shareholder owned monopolistic utilities to take advantage of the citizens and businesses in the State of South Carolina.
I hope by publishing the legislative enablers the voters will know the Representatives that deserve their vote.
I ask voters to forget partisan politics and vote for their pocketbooks, not the pocketbooks of Wall Street utility investors.