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Power play: Utilities want solar users to pay up -NBC News.com Page 2 of 6 energy industry lawyer and partner at Snell&Wilmer."If you have an individual putting solar panels on the roof,its easy to suggest that a utility is making less money." The effort for higher fees on solar panel users could backfire,said Alan Beale,general manager of SolarMax. If the fees are too high,he said,"it will just delay...the inevitable, and more companies and individuals will go to the independent energy producers." According to Carver at Edison International,part of the problem is that many power users,such as apartment renters,lack access to solar energy,which creates a two-tier system that shifts higher costs to nonsolar users. According to a policy paper from the Edison Electric Institute,a trade association,solar users avoid paying for the system's fixed costs but still take power from the grid when they need it,such as after sunset,when solar panels aren't generating.(Most solar users Philips Sonicare N N don't have solar storage capacity,the paper states.) AirFloss The solar industry seems willing to accept some changes but stops at Better check-ups, what it sees as the utilities'exorbitant price proposals. guaranteed.'r "Solar customers give much more valuable peak power to utilities for free during the day than they get back at night,"said John Berger, CEO and founder of solar energy provider Sunnova."Utilities are MM'S sonata. like socialist monopolies.They don't provide good service or pricing." Utility companies are having some success getting net metering rules changed. In California,the No.1 solar state in panels installed,lawmakers let net metering continue but directed its public utility commission to devise a new program by 2017 to ensure that nonsolar customers aren't burdened unfairly in paying for the grid. In Arizona,regulators voted in November to allow the largest utility to tack a monthly fee of$5 onto the bill of customers with new solar installations.Arizona Public Service originally sought a$50 surcharge. Colorado's utility commission is considering a proposal to halve credits for solar energy households.Other states,including Louisiana and Idaho,are also contemplating changes in net metering rates. Even some solar power users see change as necessary. "I believe there's a way of restructuring metering rules and rate structures that won't impact the solar industry for the long term," said Karin Corfee,managing director of the energy practice for consulting firm Navigant,who has solar panels on her Danville,Calif., home. Utility firms have valid cost issues,she said,but she is concerned that big rate increases could affect solar users'ability to pay off their energy investment. "I figure I can pay it off in seven years,'Corfee said."But if decisions are made to shift the economics of my system...that will be difficult." http://www.nbcnews.com/business/power-play-utilitsies-want-solar-users-pay-2D 11887781.. 1/13/2014