Louisiana Commission Stacks the Deck Against Solar

The Louisiana Public Service Commission just stacked the deck against more solar energy in Louisiana.  In a move that favors entrenched fossil fuel interests, the Commission selected a consultant – Acadian Consulting Group – with a known anti-renewable energy record to evaluate the impact of the state’s most important solar energy policy – net metering.

If you live in Louisiana can you tell your Commission to give solar a fair trial?

Utilities have been pressuring the Commission to weaken net metering for over a year, without any data to support their claims that the policy is unfair. Thanks to an outpouring of solar support from Louisianans, the Commission decided instead to kick off a process this summer to “fairly” evaluate the impact of the net metering program.

Net metering gives renewable energy customers fair credit on their utility bills for the excess clean power they contribute to the grid. This crediting program benefits solar customers by reducing their bills and benefits non-solar customers by encouraging private solar investment that reduces the need for utilities to invest in expensive, polluting power infrastructure.

Five firms submitted a bid to study how net metering affects Louisianan energy consumers. Sadly, the Commission chose the one firm with a known bias against renewable energy, and the one firm with no experience performing a net metering evaluation. Louisiana solar deserves better.

Local and national groups have joined together to demand that the Commission disqualify this firm and instead choose an independent, qualified firm that will fairly measure the benefits that rooftop solar brings to the Pelican State.

Click here to read the formal petition against Acadian filed by the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association, and the letter submitted by Vote Solar and others in support of the petition.