A plan by the California Public Utilities Commission to levy an “exit fee” against anyone who stops drawing electricity from the state’s grid — read: alternative energy users — has come under fire by lawmakers, renewable energy producers, and consumers. The proposed exit fee is a holdover from the state’s 2000-2001 energy crisis, when the commission tried to discourage people from jumping ship during the darkest days of deregulation. But the fee would also apply to people who installed solar energy panels after Jan. 17, 2001, effectively functioning as a disincentive to switch to green energy. Under one version of the plan, the fee would add anywhere from $2.50 to $13.50 per monthly utility bill. Happily, the CPUC seems likely to exempt renewable-energy users from the fee in the face of the firestorm of criticism. There are about 8,000 homes and small businesses powered by solar energy in California, many of them so efficient they pump surplus energy back into the state’s grid.
