Cap and Trade is forced on the citizens of Oregon

Thanks to Gov. Kulongoski and the Oregon legislature, all customers of two of Oregon's largest utility companies will be paying cash back to those who can afford to invest and install solar powered systems for their homes. What a great idea in a down and dirty economy, forcing many to pay for the few, and forcing higher utility costs on the citizens of one of the most economically depressed states in the entire country. This is on top of a proposed 20% rate hike and the passage of the disastrous measures 66 and 67. Here is what I posted previously about the 20% proposed rate hike:

Cap and trade in Oregon: Electric rates proposed to go up 20% WHF???

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Prepare to pay for solar energy incentive plan

Bend Bulletin

Every time you pay your electricity bill, take a moment to reflect on the good works of Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Oregon Legislature. Thanks to them, you’re paying more than you would otherwise.

Beginning in July, a new program goes into effect that gives homeowners and others who install solar power systems cash for doing so. In fact, Pacific Power and Portland General Electric will be on the hook for 15 years of payments to everyone who takes advantage of the program.

Guess where that money will come from?

Here are some hints: It won’t come from state coffers, for even lawmakers, who ordered the program when they met last year, recognized that Oregon can’t afford it. Nor will it come from Uncle Sam, though the federal government will generously provide a 30 percent tax credit on the price of installation of a system.

No, Pacific Power and PGE customers will pay, month after month and year after year. And, presumably, the more people who take advantage of this forced generosity, the more generous power users will be forced to become.

Here on the sunny side of the Cascades, those who sign up will collect 55 cents per kilowatt hour of solar electricity generated. If your system cranked out 75,000 kwh of power in the 15 years of your contract, you’d collect more than $40,000, nearly double the average cost of installing a 5 kwh system.

We’re all for solar power, don’t get us wrong. It’s about as clean as an energy source can be, and it’s there for the taking. It’s completely renewable. And so on.

We’re far less pleased about a program that’s guaranteed to raise utility costs for thousands of Oregonians, economic hard times or no, so that this state can appear to be the energy trailblazer our governor and Democrat-dominated Legislature want us to be.

Find original editorial here