After Nevada’s governor yanked solar power subsidies for customers, Elon Musk’s mega-solar panel company SolarCity decided to make good on its threat to drop 550 energy jobs in the state.
Nevada’ Public Utilities Commission (PUC), guided by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, decided to change the state’s government-mandated solar metering rules last month. With the rule change, solar panel customers will now get paid substantially less for the energy their panels generate. The commission also increased the service charge customers must pay to have the panels.
All told, the rule change means the service charge for panels will increase 40 percent from $12.75 to $17.90 per month in the southern part of the state and 38 percent for those in the northern section of Nevada.
As a result, one of the biggest recipients of the subsidy, SolarCity, has decided that it can no longer do business in an an environment that is bereft of government support. PUC’s decision prompted the mega solar panel company to send hundreds of Nevadans scurrying for unemployment lines. SolarCity says it will relocate former employees….
Musk, the titular head of SolarCity, warned the PUC and Governor Sandoval last month that the solar panel power giant planned on pulling out of Nevada after the state commission repealed subsidies propping up the state’s solar power industry.
Tesla’s CEO scored a massive $1.4 billion subsidy from Nevada’ legislature to build a massive solar power factory for Tesla — the subsidy for the factory was part of a $4.9 billion public windfall Musk received from the state for propping up all of his alternative energy ventures.
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Nevada Solar Industry Collapses After Subsidy Cuts & Solar Tax | The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
