The following email was sent our Co-Chair, Jeffrey Barz-Snell, out to the SAFE listserve regarding a bill in the House that could bring solar power business in our state to a grinding halt. We are posting Jeffrey’s letter here as well and hope that you will write your State Representatives and State Senators as a result. Here are the links to a template for a sample letter:
Jeffrey’s letter to SAFE:
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Hello SAFE supporters,
As we all know there is an attempt by Speaker DeLeo here in Massachusetts to change the regulations that permit the growth of solar and wind power here in the Commonwealth. Representative DeLeo is listening to lobbyists for the public utilities and trying to undermine the business model on which solar and wind projects are based; specifically no longer obligating public utilities to buy back power from solar systems at almost the same exact price for which they are selling it. This is calledNet Metering and it is a key regulation anywhere that solar has grown as an industry here in the US and around the world.
The State of Nevada has already changed their net metering regulations, (through their Public Utilities Commission) and the impacts are significant and devastating to solar system owners and users in the state. Similar sorts of changes to solar regulations are now being proposed in many states all over the country, in what appears to be a coordinated effort to undermine the growth of solar and wind power generation. Here’s an article about what has happened in Nevada:
This cannot and should not happen here in Massachusetts. Call your local representative and senator (Paul Tucker and Joan Lovely here in Salem) and tell them you oppose House Bill 3854, which will change net metering rules and greatly reduce (or even eliminate) the growth of solar and wind generation here in the Commonwealth. And encourage your friends and family all over the state to do the same.
Thanks,
Jeff Barz-Snell
Salem Alliance for the Environment 