TUSK calls on NV Energy to Stop Attacking Solar Jobs and Competition

Now that rooftop solar is starting to take off in Nevada as a form of consumer electricity choice, NV Energy is lobbying against it to protect their monopoly.  NV Energy wants to eliminate a fundamental solar policy called net metering so they can wipe out competition and stop rooftop solar in its tracks.  Tell Utilities Solar won’t be Killed (TUSK), founded by Barry Goldwater Jr., calls on NV Energy to stop its monopolist, anti-solar attacks. 

Rooftop solar is so popular in Nevada that the state is bumping up against an arbitrary, unjustified cap on the number of people who can participate in solar net metering. Net metering gives solar customers full, fair credit for the excess energy they put back on electric grid. Utilities like NV Energy turn around and sell this energy at the full retail rate to homes and business nearby. Unless the Legislature lifts this arbitrary cap, solar choice, competition and job creation will cease. NV Energy is lobbying for this death sentence. That’s anti-competitive, and it’s not the conservative way.

“If NV Energy’s lobbying against solar choice succeeds, Nevadans seeking an alternative to the monopoly will lose their choice as consumers,” said TUSK Chairman and retired U.S. Congressman Barry Goldwater Jr. “If NV Energy wipes out rooftop solar, they’ll wipe out the competitive market that drives down solar costs and creates jobs.”

Nevada has 5,900 solar jobs and is currently ranked number one nationally in solar jobs per capita.  This growth will come to a halt and hundreds if not thousands of Nevadans will lose their jobs.  NV Energy would not only succeed in eliminating the rooftop solar marketplace, but also send a dangerous signal to other businesses and industries looking to invest in Nevada.

“I hope that my fellow conservatives in the Nevada Legislature will increase the net metering cap this session to protect solar choice and competition,” continued Goldwater Jr. “Rooftop solar is right for Nevada, and monopolist utilities should not stand in its way.”