Why does Michigan still have a 1% solar cap?
In 2008, the Michigan legislature enacted a 1% cap that limits the number of families and businesses who can save with solar. Advocates have spent years promoting a popular bill to eliminate the cap. Today — despite widespread bipartisan support — the bill remains stalled and the restrictive solar cap is still standing.
That cap is currently standing in the way of Michigan’s clean energy future and is threatening to destroy Michigan’s thriving solar workforce. We need to protect our solar industry, our solar workers, and our energy freedom.
So who benefits from keeping strict limits on solar? Monopoly utilities and the politicians they support. Case in point: Representative Joe Bellino, Chair of Michigan’s House Energy Committee.
Representative Bellino isn’t shy about accepting sizable contributions from DTE and Consumers Energy. Yet when it comes to House Bill 4236, which would get rid of the 1% cap and expand Michigan’s solar economy, he refuses to even bring it forward for a vote.
By refusing to allow a vote, Representative Bellino is standing in the way of economic growth, energy savings, and a clean energy workforce — things that should matter more than campaign contributions. One person shouldn’t be able to stand in the way of common-sense, bipartisan legislation that their constituents support; especially not when they’re cashing checks from opposing special interests.