LETTERS: NV Energy leaving solar power in dark
To the editor:
Regarding rooftop solar in Nevada (“Metering program might be quashed,” April 16 Review-Journal), NV Energy should welcome an industry that can be helpful for all. Currently, NV Energy has at least two conservation programs in place. Both programs are designed to take the load off the company in the hotter months of July and August.
I’ve heard that wholesale rates to NV Energy are much higher when air conditioners are running, and that the company has to guard against brownouts. NV Energy’s “mPowered” program will install a web-based thermostat in your house, giving the provider power to adjust your thermostats under certain circumstances. The company’s “Time of Use” program has very low rates in the not-so-hot months, then rates as high as 51 cents per kilowatt-hour in peak times, during hot afternoons in the hotter months.
These programs encourage homeowners to turn off their air conditioners during the hottest times. A neighbor who attended an NV Energy seminar on the latter program was told that folks should go to a movie or go shopping when their house gets too hot.
It’s my understanding that rooftop solar has been restricted to only cover 95 percent of a home’s electricity needs. Even so, in the hottest months, these roofs can produce much of the home’s energy needs, thus freeing energy for others and keeping the energy company from worrying about brownouts and buying expensive electricity. This would allow those who don’t have solar to afford to keep their homes kept at moderate temperatures.
Instead, NV Energy is trying to put the rooftop solar industry out of business. NV Energy knows that companies in town will install panels on roofs at no cost to the homeowner, but charge the homeowner 10.5 cents per kwh — about 2 cents cheaper than the NV Energy flat rate. Clearly, NV Energy can’t stand the heat.
GARY MUSSER
LAS VEGAS
Solar dead in Nevada
To the editor:
It is a travesty that Gov. Brian Sandoval and the state Legislature have bowed to Warren Buffett and the power companies to kill residential rooftop solar in this state. They have done this by refusing to increase the cap on installations, which will cause the cap to be reached this year.
The power companies need to be paid for their infrastructure, which is used by all consumers of electricity in this state. However, the power companies have seen this issue coming for several years and have not planned for it, other than to be against it. There should be more than enough brainpower among the power companies, the regulatory agencies and the public to solve the problems. The power companies have simply said “no.”
It has been the stated goal of our federal government to promote renewable energy, and solar is the cheapest source of that energy. Nevada is one of the best states to make use of solar, and now it is dead. I am so glad that I installed mine this year, just in time to enjoy the benefits.
JERRY GARDBERG
HENDERSON
Stop electing liars
To the editor:
It seems the voting public in this country has a short memory. Politicians, or their minions, continually lie to the American public and get away with it. A number of previous administrations and politicians, both Republican and Democrat, have lied about extra-marital affairs, weapons of mass destruction, the Benghazi debacle, email accounts, the justification for and implementation of Obamacare, family genealogy and who knows what else.
My mother used to say that if you lie down in a stable, it’s hard not to rise smelling like manure. Why don’t we try electing someone with no connections to any of these previous liars? If we keep electing liars, we’ll keep getting lied to.
ROBERT UHL
LAS VEGAS
