In his Dec. 18 Maine Voices column about the role of the state’s solar policies, University of Southern Maine professor Joseph W. McDonnell is wrong on a number of fronts. He misrepresents Maine’s net metering solar policy as a state subsidy, which it is not. He misrepresents who pays for the transmission and distribution costs for the solar energy, and he fails to focus on the real reason why electricity rates have spiked this winter.

Maine’s solar policy is not a subsidy, since it merely allows solar developers to get full credit for the energy they send into the grid. And since solar customers continue to pay for the delivery of electricity to their homes, net metering does not shift the burden of grid maintenance to non-solar customers, as McDonnell asserts.

McDonnell never explains how solar development will increase rates by 20 percent. As the Press Herald has reported, the actual 30 percent increase in electricity rates is “a direct result of New England’s over reliance on natural gas to power the electric grid.” Yes, solar is intermittent, but its prices are reliable and low, unlike the volatile prices of fossil fuels.

McDonnell was previously an executive at Long Island Lighting Co., an electrical and natural gas utility notorious for its high rates. No wonder his eyes are on the wrong target. Instead of raising mythical concerns about the cost of solar development, he should be focused on the real rate increases Mainers are suffering from because of the unreliability of natural gas.

David Kuchta
Portland

Copy the Story Link