For net metering to be successful, it is crucial that policymakers find solutions that produce more benefits than costs. Accomplishing this requires getting the prices correct and increasing consumer protections. To read this piece by Liam Sigaud and Krisztina Pusok, visit Inside Sources. Well-Intentioned Energy Policies Are Hurting Consumers
ENERGY / Environment
Morning Consult: Reforming Net Metering Would Restore Fairness for Energy Consumers
Solar power is an important part of our energy future, but misguided net metering policies distort the market, transfer wealth from the neediest Americans to the most wealthy and incentivize fraudulent business practices that victimize consumers. The basic solution is simple: States should adopt fair, market-driven rates to compensate net metering customers. To read this […]
New ConsumerGram: The Unintended Consequences of Net Metering
At first glance, the concept of promoting rooftop solar energy seems like a good idea: homeowners are incentivized to buy or lease solar panels; they benefit from reduced reliance on their local utility for electricity; they benefit directly from clean solar energy; and they sell any excess power to the electric utility for credit or […]
Legislatures Should Put Rate Payers First When It Comes to Net Metering
Solar power is an important part of our energy future, but misguided net metering policies, like the one in New Hampshire, aim to distort the market and transfer wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest. The basic solution is simple: states should adopt fair, market-driven rates to compensate net metering customers. You can read […]
Real Clear Energy: Electric Car Subsidies Aren’t All They’re Cracked Up to Be
For more than a decade, the federal government has picked winners and losers in the automobile market by heavily subsidizing electric vehicles (EVs). Now, with those subsidies set to phase out for the largest EV manufacturers, some lawmakers are now pushing to have the subsidies greatly expanded. To read this op-ed, visit Real Clear Energy.
Inside Sources: Proposal to Expand Electric Car Subsidies Doubles Down on Failed Policy
A pair of powerful senators, Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, and Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, and their allies in the House, are pushing to expand costly and ineffective federal subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs). However, the evidence finds that subsidizing electric vehicles is a bad idea for consumers, taxpayers and the environment. Read about this in Inside Sources.
Climate Change and Politics
Climate change emotions played a role in the leftward tilt of the House in the 2018 elections. Already some of the many Presidential contenders are on board for the Democrat’s climate change platform: “We believe America must be running entirely on clean energy by mid-century.” Yet few are embracing steps that are more radical. The […]
Morning Consult: Extending the Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Would Entrench a Failed Policy
The billions of dollars spent on EV credits over the last decade have been ineffective and costly to low-income taxpayers. No wonder about two-thirds of voters oppose these subsidies. These credits shouldn’t be extended; they should be repealed. You can read this piece at The Morning Consult.
Should Energy Policy be Rooted in Logic or Fashion?
Unfortunately, the U.S. is not self-sufficient in petroleum and we have a way to go. We consume 19.96 million barrels of crude oil per day (Mbbl/day). Of that, we produce 13.134 Mbbl/day. We also export about 6 Mbbl/day, where prices and transportation costs are attractive. In 2017, we imported about 10.4 Mbbl/day from countries such […]
White Paper Calls on Congress to Establish a Pilot Program to Study the Use of Vehicle Miles Traveled Fees
The Pilot Would Study the Feasibility of Replacing Federal Fuel Taxes WASHINGTON, D.C., January 30, 2019 – The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI) released today a ConsumerGram that analyzes the use of an alternative funding mechanism for the Highway Trust Fund. America’s roads and highways are becoming increasingly congested and structurally deficient. […]