PUC holds the fate of 6,000 solar energy jobs

By Ralph Gomez

Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Following my honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy, I moved from Hampton Roads, Va., back to Las Vegas to be closer to my parents.

Once back, I finished my degree in information technology and eventually joined the SolarCity family, where I found my career in the solar industry. It’s inspiring to see so many Nevadans choose solar for their homes and families, but I fear now that it could all be at risk.

I’ll join hundreds of Nevadans from around the state today at the meeting of the state Public Utilities Commission. Our goal is to prevent the elimination of our solar industry, one of the largest solar markets in the country, and the 6,000 Nevada jobs it supports. The commissioners, appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval, will hear loud and clear that they are accountable to the public, not monopoly utility interests.

Monopoly utility NV Energy recently revealed its latest attempt to kill the solar market. The utility is proposing new fees for solar users that are both unprecedented and extreme. NV Energy proposes nine different sets of complicated rules and fees that all seek to undercut solar as an affordable option for consumers. The utility admitted in its proposal that the new fees could amount to $40 per month in solar taxes, thereby eliminating all savings for solar customers. It’s abundantly clear: NV Energy is doing everything it possibly can to block free-market competition by wiping out Nevada’s solar industry.

For example, NV Energy is proposing a “demand charge,” a proposal unprecedented at the state level. When an Arizona utility adopted a similar charge, it all but killed the solar market there. All told, solar installations in that utility territory dropped by 95 percent.

It would take the average person several days to read NV Energy’s nearly 500-page proposal, and at the end, they would still not know how much they owe the utility. This complicated, anti-solar plan isn’t what Nevadans want. Our solar rules are working for solar, and solar is working for Nevada. Nevada is a national leader in solar energy jobs; last year, we ranked No. 1 in the country for solar jobs per capita. When hundreds of people pack the PUC meeting today, they’ll simply be calling on the commission to continue the existing rules. These rules compensate solar users fairly and support our growing solar industry.

Commissioners will hear from fathers and mothers who support their families working in the solar industry, and homeowners whose rooftop solar panels save their families money and protect scarce water resources. Tens of thousands of people in Nevada are benefitting from solar, and more than 600 of them wrote the PUC to oppose NV Energy’s efforts to kill solar.

This outpouring of public support sends a clear message: Nevadans don’t want the commission to accept NV Energy’s complicated, anti-solar plan. And they shouldn’t. By law, the commission has until the end of the year to hold a public process with stakeholder input before adopting any new fees for solar customers. In the meantime, they should provide certainty to the solar industry and continue existing rules.

At the end of the month, President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas. With the nation’s eyes on the Silver State, we have a choice: Will we continue to lead the nation in energy jobs and innovation, or give in to the utility monopoly trying to stop our progress? The governor appointed the commission, and he is ultimately accountable to voters who want solar. If Nevada is serious about being a clean-energy leader, the Public Utilities Commission can’t let our 6,000 solar jobs slip away.

Ralph Gomez works for SolarCity in Las Vegas.