New Solar Deal, Like Everything Else in Texas, is Big

To say that we’ve seen a broad range of responses from public utilities to the “onslaught” of rooftop solar would be an understatement. On the one hand, you have the Florida Public Service Commission voting to gut their energy efficiency program and terminate all solar rebate programs, eliciting  a surprising response from, by all people, the Tea Party. They say the state needs more solar, not less. The battle down there in “the Sunshine State” has led to some unusual alliances, like the Christian Coalition joining hands with Greenpeace, and the Libertarian Party linking up with Sierra Club. It stems primarily from the extraordinary influence wielded by the major power companies in the state.

Over in Texas, on the other hand, the local utility in Dallas has taken more of an “if-you-can’t-beat-‘em-join-‘em” approach. Here, you’ll find MP2 Energy in a partnership with Solar City to help facilitate the rapid spread of solar power. Solar City, if you’ll recall, is also participating in a joint venture with Tesla Motors on batteries for energy storage that can be integrated with solar generation.

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Image credit: Larry D. Moore: Wikimedia

RP Siegel, author and inventor, shines a powerful light on numerous environmental and technological topics. He has been published in business and technical journals and has written three books. His third, co-authored with Roger Saillant, is Vapor Trails, an eco-thriller that is being adapted for the big screen. RP is a professional engineer – and a prolific inventor, with 50 patents, numerous awards, and several commercial products. He is president of Rain Mountain LLC and is an active environmental advocate in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. In addition to Justmeans, he writes for Triple Pundit, ThomasNet News, and Energy Viewpoints, occasionally contributing to Mechanical Engineering, Strategy + Business, and Huffington Post.