Taxed Enough Already...Well maybe not..!

[Dirty Penguin]

In addition to Oklahoma's governor signing a bill banning cities and other municipalities in the state from raising the minimum wage...Oklahoma is now poised to tax anyone who seeks to utilize alternative energy such as adding solar panels to your home. The bill passed with bipartisan support.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/16/3427392/oklahoma-fee-solar-wind/

Oklahoma residents who produce their own energy through solar panels or small wind turbines on their property will now be charged an additional fee, the result of a new bill passed by the state legislature and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin (R).

On Monday, S.B. 1456 passed the state House 83-5 after no debate. The measure creates a new class of customers: those who install distributed power generation systems like solar panels or small wind turbines on their property and sell the excess energy back to the grid. While those with systems already installed won’t be affected, the new class of customers will now be charged a monthly fee — a shift that happened quickly and caught many in the state off guard.

“We knew nothing about it and all of a sudden it’s attached to some other bill,” Ctaci Gary, owner of Sun City Oklahoma, told ThinkProgress. “It just appeared out of nowhere.”

 

[Sunstone]

More evidence, in my opinion, that conservatives are not in favor of freedom and liberty for all, but only of freedom and liberty for the rich and powerful. In this case, the energy corporations.

 

[Revoltingest]

I searched & found.....
http://www.forbes.com/sites/william...kays-new-surcharge-on-distributed-renewables/

Like the Arizona surcharge, the rationale supporting the legislation is that the special fees are needed to recover infrastructure costs associated with net metering, which allows customers to sell self-generated electricity back to the grid.

It seems reasonable to charge people for costs they create for others, but it would also
be reasonable to forgo the charge in order to encourage less dependence on the grid.

 

[Sunstone]

I searched & found.....
Oklahoma Okays New Surcharge On Distributed Renewables - Forbes
It seems reasonable to charge people for costs they create for others, but it would also
be reasonable to forgo the charge in order to encourage less dependence on the grid.

If that were the real rationale, and not just political posturing, why would it not be more sensible to charge people a one time fee to install solar panels, etc.? Why an on-going tax? Surely the tax over time will recover more than is necessary to offset the infrastructure costs? I'm just curious here.

 

[Revoltingest]

If that were the real rationale, and not just political posturing, why would it not be more sensible to charge people a one time fee to install solar panels, etc.? Why an on-going tax? Surely the tax over time will recover more than is necessary to offset the costs to the state or energy companies.

Infrastructure for selling power back to the utilities wouldn't be a one time cost.
Sure, there are initial capital expenditures, but then there are maintenance
& replacement costs. Such is my experience with electrical power systems.
Is the OK charge reasonable? I don't know.

 

[Sunstone]

Infrastructure for selling power back to the utilities wouldn't be a one time cost.
Sure, there are initial capital expenditures, but then there are maintenance
& replacement costs. Such is my experience with electrical power systems.

Fair enough. Thanks for clarifying that!

 

[Revoltingest]

We need Wirey to give us his expert perspective.