On 9/16/13 9:12 AM, Leon wrote:
As more homes generate their own power, typically with the help of state
or federal subsidies, they're buying less electricity from traditional
utilities.

Jeopardizing Grid
PG&E Corp., California's biggest, has said this jeopardizes the power
grid because there's less revenue to maintain the infrastructure. In
response, utilities are raising rates, a burden that's a slightly
heavier burden for people without solar power. In California they may
eventually pass on as much as $1.3billion in annual costs to customers
who don't have panels.

I've been following Solar Power progress for some time now. The weak
link is still storage. My cost can be zero from sun-up to sun-down, but
we'll need power the rest of the day for years to come. That guaranteed
power will come at a cost.

When storage is so cheap the overnight backup isn't needed, and a
generator (I'm thinking natural gas, not gasoline) can kick in after the
5th cloudy day, the grid might no longer be needed. That point is still
decades away and yes, there's a struggle with taxes trying balance
things out. But, tax the non-solar home and drive up their cost, and
you'll push them to solar even faster.