Let's try to summarize this astounding Scientific American article that symbolizes the tentacles of the fossil fuel industry and utility companies in perpetuating destructive climate change.
Actually, the header and sub-headline of the piece sum it up nicely: "A
Solar Boom so Successful, It's Been Halted: Photovoltaics proved so
successful in Hawaii that the local utility, [the Hawaiian Electric
Company] (HECO), has instituted policies to block further expansion."
Hawaiian residents are investing their own money to save longterm
costs and the environment. The result is that they are producing a
surplus of solar energy beyond what they can use in their homes. This
extra energy is supposed to be diverted back into the power grid to save
money on HECO's reliance on oil and to reduce global warming.
Now the US does have an aged electrical grid and HECO makes the claim
that the surge in solar energy production by homeowners is creating
safety problems:
Hawaiian Electric Co., or HECO, in
September told solar contractors on Oahu that the island's solar boom is
creating problems. On many circuits, the utility said, there's so much
solar energy that it poses a threat to the system and a safety issue.
Studies are needed on whether grid upgrades are necessary. If they are,
residents adding solar must foot the bill. And starting immediately,
contractors and residents would need permission to connect most small
rooftop systems to the grid.
The result is that an alternative renewable energy source that could
help save the planet and reduce energy costs dramatically (in the long
run, particulary as solar technology becomes less expensive) is dead in
its tracks in Hawaii:
The policy change halted what has been a
solar surge in Hawaii. Installations there jumped 169 percent last year
from 2011. More than 4 percent of households have photovoltaics. Hawaii
last year led the nation in the portion of its electricity that comes
from solar, with 2.6 percent.
Now, a nation that cannot invest in fixing its electrical grid -- if
you believe the utility company excuse for basically shutting down solar
expansion in Hawaii -- is a nation that is not the greatest on earth,
but one doomed to failure while its energy policy is dictated by the
profiteering, environmentally toxic fossil fuel industry and utility
companies.
Amidst the approval of a tar sands pipeline from Alberta to British
Columbia in Canada -- and the already flowing earth-killing oil into the
US (accelerating with the opening of the southern leg of the Keystone
XL Pipeline next month) -- the use of renewable non-polluting energy courtesy of the sun should be one of the nation's highest priority.
But, as usual, the "economic royalists" (as Thom Hartmann calls them)
can't make enough money off an energy source that is free after an
initial investment:
Charles Wang, with the Hawaii ECO Project,
at a solar conference in San Diego earlier this month warned people
from other states that Hawaii is a "cautionary tale" and "something that
you will face down the road in your marketplaces."
"I am from the future," Wang told a room
of industry and environmental representatives. "The utility is that
800-pound gorilla. If you push it to the corner of the room, it's going
to fight back. That's what's happening right now."
Some residential users are even buying expensive battery storage
units to save up surplus solar energy and sidestep the issue of "grid
certification," meaning, in essence, renewable energy is being kept from
replacing fossil fuel produced electricity as a public power source.
When you watch those programs that try to piece together how ancient
civilizations disappeared through archeological digs, the fossil
fuel/utility greed and assault on the environment in Hawaii --
symbolized by aging grids -- will be a telling sign of what became of an
empire that choked on its wallet and blocked out the sun.
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18389-booming-solar-energy-halted-by-hawaii-utility-because-it-produces-too-much-power
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