Public Domain Dedication License
A Solar Oasis
A vast, flat expanse of sand stretches out over the Nevadan horizon. Here, 163 watts of power will be radiated from the Sun onto each square meter of land every day. When you have a region 286 billion square meters in area, that totals up to be quite a lot. This is why the area is so attractive to the solar energy business, it is a clean resource just begging to be harnessed.
This frontier is not just empty space, however. Casinos tower over the urban oases throughout the desert. A city constantly alight needs power to keep the electricity alive. Therefore, they need an energy provider. In an area as wide as this one, its conditions have allowed NV Energy to gain a near monopoly on utility distribution. NV Energy has not yet tapped in to Nevada’s solar capabilities, instead choosing to rely on fossil fuels. Nevada’s potential for the solar industry has not been lost on companies such as SolarCity. Entering the Nevada arena in 2014, SolarCity wasted no time in helping mainly South Nevadans harness the power of the sun.
Enter SolarCity
Meet Lyndon Rive, the CEO of SolarCity. Although you couldn't be blamed for not knowing that he's a CEO by looking at him: he forgoes tailored suits and ties in favor of simple, loose-fitting button downs. With somewhat mousy features, Rive becomes impassioned talking about his duties with SolarCity. His South African roots become apparent when he speaks, he moved from the region to start his first business when he was 17. Today he works to expand SolarCity in high potential areas, such as Nevada.
He touts the economic and environmental benefits of conversion to solar power.
"[Solar City] will make it possible for many Las Vegas area homeowners to install solar panels for free and pay less for solar electricity than they pay for electricity from the local utility" -
SolarCity
This is accomplished through a program called net metering (NEM). During the peak hours of solar panel activity, it is likely that residents will be away from home, and not actually be using the energy they generate. Net metering allows residents to sell back excess energy into the grid. It has proven to be an attractive prospect for local Nevadan residents. Catering mostly to South Nevadans, Rive's company has already fitted nearly 20000 roofs with solar panels.
Battle for the Sun
But in the heart of winter, tempers soared to the heights of the summer Nevadan heat outside the Public Utility Commission’s headquarters (PUC). Net metering is not without limit: the Nevada legislature set a net metering cap, allowing energy rates to be reevaluated once they exceed a peak megawatt usage. On August of 2015, Nevada’s net metering cap was reached.
People have gathered at the premises with poster board in hand, emblazoned with messages written by pungent-smelling, if strangely aromatic, sharpies: they beg and protest, pleading with the commission to not kill solar energy in the state.
The Public Utilities Commission decided not to continue with the current rates, and on December 23rd, moved to enact newer, more expensive rates for solar-users. Not only would new solar-users abide to these rates: the rate change is retroactive.
Now, traditional utilities and solar power go head to head in Las Vegas, where the Public Utilities Commission grapples with solar residents over who should shoulder the costs incurred to the grid by solar energy.
Solar Fallout
This change proved to be disastrous for the Nevadan solar energy industry. Days after the rate change, SolarCity realized that it would no longer be econmically viable to install solar panels in Nevada, and subsequently ceased operations in the state. They then put a press release, noting that this development had forced them to cut
500 jobs in the state. Rive claims that these new rates will "take the value of these [preexisting] systems by half", making them near impossible to pay off (20:11,
Video).
"[They] just stole $48,000 from me with this decision," resident James Collier
said, now that the cost of the solar panels will now outweigh their benefits,
barely bringing in a net benefit, at best.
The Nevada PUC claimed that this decision was in the best interests of Nevada residents, in order to make sure that non-solar resident did not pay for solar users' usage of the grid. Resident Paul Scott disagrees.
"I've called all of our Legislators and complained loudly and 'longly' about it. Clearly, we're not being listened to by the PUC and they're not acting in our best interest" (
ktnv.com).
Even some celebrities have gotten involved with the controversy. On behalf of solar-using Nevada residents, Mark Ruffalo likens the PUC's actions as "taking from the people and giving to the rich” (
Govtech).
In the face of public outrage, the PUC staffer who recommended the rates, Anne-Marie Cuneo, appears nonplussed. She gives out measured responses to potentially inflammatory questions she is asked.
When asked for the commission's motivation for these increases, Cuneo cites that it is in the public's best interests.
"Why should non-solar residents reimburse solar users?" Cuneo asks at 14:36 (
Video). Cuneo found that the model SolarCity ran on overstated the megawatt per hour price of solar energy, running a possible $222 million net cost for the grid. "The circumstances for the model do not exist", she states in the above interview.
Financial Gain to Rate Hikes?
Could their be financial gain for NV Energy by adjusting the rates? Lyndon Rive seems to thinks so. Pinpointing their lack of hold in the solar industry, he understands why they might want to muscle SolarCity out of the mark by making them nonviable with new price increases. "They'd be big fans of solar that they own" (21:14,
Video). He's not alone in thinking this way:
New York Times journalist and author Jacques Leslie also believes that these rates are an attempt to help NV Energy expand, backing up his claims slightly. Nevada residents already on solar energy also share in this theory, accusing NV Energy of benefiting financially from this development.
The Public Utilities Commission vehemently disagrees, stating that accusations of unjust influence in their decision are outrageous.
Citing "multiple cases in where [they] did not favor NV Energy" in the past, Cuneo rebukes claims that there was undue influence from NV Energy, saying that jumping to that assumption from the outcome of one case is absurd (
13:21). Cuneo brings precedence and studies to her aid, making it hard to find fault with her arguments.
Peer Reviewers: I tried to write my early blog work in a manner that can be incorporated into the final QRG. Please read for clarity. There is a specific study that will be extremely helpful for my final product: I'm still analyzing it, but expect a section that details the rates/megawatt payout in the future that Cuneo references to, and for pictures to be included. Thanks.
