Dive Summary:
- Watch out PG&E Corp., Edison International and Sempra Energy. A new alliance of rooftop solar companies have formed to fight utility corporations that are not supportive of renewable energy in 43 states.
- The Alliance for Solar Choice said these three utilities “have opposed net energy metering since its inception.” Net metering, which requires utilities to purchase surplus electricity at retail rates from customers with rooftop solar systems, will be the main focus of the new alliance’s efforts, the group said Friday.
- The alliance includes major U.S. solar installers such as SolarCity Corp., Sungevity Inc., Sunrun Inc. and Verengo Inc.
From the article:
“We are concerned that there’s an unfair burden on our customers who have not installed solar panels,” Vanessa McGrady, a spokeswoman for Edison International’s Southern California Edison, said today by e-mail. People with solar systems “are still using the distribution grid and other utility services, minus generation, but do not pay their share.”
Edison Electric Institute, an association of investor-owned power companies that serve about 70 percent of the U.S. market, in January said “threats to the centralized utility business model have accelerated” in part due to net energy metering.