20170817Comment.pdf

Diane Holt
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Wednesday, August 16,2017 B:13 PM
Beverly Barker; Diane Holt; Matthew Evans
Case Comment Form: Mike Sheeley
Name: Mike Sheeley
Case Number: IPC-E-17-13
Email: [e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]
Address:4119 W. Quail Ridge Drive
Boise ldaho,83703
Name of Utility Company: ldaho Power
Comment: Commissioners of the IPUC,
I recently became aware of the petition filed by ldaho Power regarding on-site generators. I am writing this because the
changes requested by ldaho Power are 1) unnecessary 2) punitive to alternative energy generators, and 3) create a
chilling effect on future alternative energy production. Accordingly, I respectively request that the IPUC deny ldaho
Power's request.
A little background might provide some perspective on our position.
My wife and I had a solar project installed at our home in Boise and began net metering in June of 2014. We purchased
our system from a local installer. Our system consisted of thirty (30) 250 watt panels for a total of 7.5 kilowatts. To date,
our system has produced 35.8 megawatts of electricity and, in so doing, has offset 24.7 lons of carbon emissions. We
purchased oursystem in contemplation of participating in ldaho Power's net metering program and, of equal
importance, to do what we could to mitigate further contributing to the climate change crisis (we also own an electric
vehicle).
ln spite of its "green" posturing, ldaho Power has a marked antipathy against alternative energy (why would ldaho
Power go to this trouble and expense regarding such a small group of customers whose numbers and energy production
are so statistically insignificant). ldaho Power's business model is built upon traditional forms of energy generation and
spinning the customer's meter forward. What ldaho Power is currently attempting to do follows a well documented
course of conduct that has been played out by public utilities in other states. Hiroko Tabuchi writing in the New York
Times On July 9,2Ot7 ("After Rapid Growth, Rooftop Solar Programs Dim Under Pressure From Utility Lobbyists")
succinctly described the utility companies' fear of falling into a "utility death spiral . . . as more consumers switched to
rooftop solar and bought less electricity from the grid ... the costs of running conventional coal, oil, gas or nuclear power
plants would be shared among an ever-smaller customer base. That could cause rates to spike, chasing even more
customers away." ldaho Power, like other utilities before it, are fighting back with anti-solar campaigns that portray
solar homeowners as mooching free riders who avoid paying their fair share for the grid and thereby raise electricity
prices for everyone else (see the guest opinion of Adam Richins, an ldaho Power VP, in a recent ldaho Statesman).
This demonizing of alternative energy producers represents not only a classic case of "smoke and mirrors" but is also
patently false. Please consider the following:
- Neither ldaho Power nor its customers paid a cent of the cost of our solar panels. lf ldaho Power were required to
purchase energy generation equipment, the ratepayers would absorb its cost.
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- Less energy is lost in transmission from a home solar system because the power is used where it is generated.
- Solar energy production uses no fuel and provides a hedge for ldaho Power against future fuel price increases.
= Home solar could allow ldaho Power to meet renewable energy and greenhouse gas emission goals without paying
for utility-scale projects.
- A recent study conducted in Arizona found that for every dollar of solar cost to the utility (primarily from net
metering), the state's solar homeowners provided Sf .S+ in long-term benefits (a solar subsidy to other ratepayers of 53+
million a year ("Throwing Shade," Edward Humes, Sierra Magazine, Mayf une 2014).
As you, the Commissioners of the IPUC, consider this matter I sincerely hope you remain cognizant of the fact that ldaho
Power's coal fired plants are spewing huge quantities of carbon dioxide and other lethal chemicals into the air. As
reported in the ldaho Statesman on February 5,20L7, the financial advisory firm, Lazard, recently determined that the
average lifetime cost for utility-scale wind and solar generation is now cheaper in the U.S. and comparable to natural gas
when costs were compared without including federal tax subsidies. ldaho Power needs to discontinue its petty attempts
to curtail alternative energy production and think globally in terms of doing everything it can to combat global warming
and its effects (many of which are being felt in ldaho).
Respectively subm itted.
Mike Sheeley
U niq ue ldentifier: 7 5.L7 4.LL8.L3L
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