​Our friends over at Americans for Limited Government have released a new report on the problems with solar power.  Their news release is below: 

​ALGF Releases Report on the Problems of Solar Energy

Aug. 20, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Today, Americans for Limited Government Foundation released a study entitled, “Solar Power Harms Taxpayers and Consumers and Endangers the Reliability of the Grid.” The study points out the problems with solar energy from taxpayer-funded subsidies and increased costs for utility customers to grid reliability concerns.

Solar energy receives heavy federal subsidies that are far more generous than the subsidies for natural gas, coal, or even wind. In addition to federal support, states have also enacted policies to prop up solar power. State renewable energy mandates have encouraged the generation of solar energy. In dozens of states, utility companies are forced to compensate solar panel owners for the excess electricity that they supply to the grid. Those programs are funded by other utility customers.

But in the rush to increase solar power generation, some of the disadvantages of solar power are being overlooked. The intermittency of solar power is a particular problem. This intermittency necessitates the availability of ample backup power plants to ramp up when clouds obscure the sun. Solar power’s intermittency also complicates the job of grid operators to keep the grid adequately supplied with electricity.

The money spent on solar subsidies and new solar plants would be better spent on maintaining and upgrading the creaky, aging grid. After all, huge portions of the grid are at or beyond their expected service life.

“The mandates and incentives to build solar plants and install solar panels have to stop. Taxpayers are being fleeced, working class consumers are subsidizing their wealthier neighbors’ solar panels, and the reliability of the grid is being threatened,” said Richard McCarty, Director of Research at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

“The money being spent to build new solar power plants in remote locations, to connect them to the grid, and to maintain backup power plants would be much better spent on upgrading our aging grid,” said Richard Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government.

To view online: https://getliberty.org/2018/08/algf-releases-report-on-the-problems-of-solar-energy/
Attachments:

“Solar Power Harms Taxpayers and Consumers and Endangers the Reliability of the Grid,” By Richard McCarty, August 17, 2018 at http://algresearch.org/2018/08/solar-power-harms-taxpayers-and-consumers-and-endangers-the-reliability-of-the-grid/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0080 ext. 1003. 

​Even before the recent Ohio Supreme Court’s 4-2 decision, which enshrined retroactive agency rule making into Ohio law; the Buckeye state was already suffering from what most experts would consider as regulatory excess.  
 
For example:
 
Brandon S. Ogden, MBA, Founder of Small Business Consultants of Ohio, said that the ECOT decision “certainly worsens Ohio’s reputation as one of the most highly regulated states in the nation with its sizeable regulatory code.”  Ogden points to a recent study from George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, which highlights the fact that the Ohio Administrative Code “contains 246,852 restrictions, 15.2 million words, and compares only to the Federal Registry in length.”
 
According to the Cato Institute, Ohio ranks a meager 31 out of 50 on regulatory freedom issues.  A link to the Cato Institute study can be found here.
 
Odgen said that “once retroactive rules are permitted under law, almost anything can happen.”  Odgen continued and stated that “small businesses are especially vulnerable to retroactive rule making because it takes away their ability to comment and press for change and they typically lack the financial resources to fight back, like ECOT was able to do.”

Read the rest of the article here.

​In 2001 a group of public school employee unions brought litigation against the State of Ohio, various charter schools including ECOT, and their management companies.  

Their contention?  

That the state’s charter school legislation which permitted privately operated schools to receive public money was unconstitutional.

The 2005 oral arguments are strikingly similar to the issues now being debated.  Those archived oral arguments can be viewed here.

Fortunately, the Ohio Supreme Court, by a narrow 4-3 majority, upheld the constitutionality of this system.

Unfortunately, those that want to shut down every charter school in Ohio haven’t given up.  They are now trying to overturn this seminal 2006 decision through a series of backdoor legal actions tied to the current ECOT litigation.  

Let me explain:

In 2016 during the midst of the presidential primaries, a group of school choice opponents within the Ohio Department of Education, along with the Governor’s office, discovered a way to go after online charter schools.   As a result of their actions, the largest online school, ECOT, was closed. 3rd Rail Politics has extensively covered this issue.  

Additionally, six other smaller online schools have closed while three are struggling on repayment plans.

Those efforts were just the beginning.  

Now, unless the Ohio Supreme Court overturns the lower courts and find those efforts unlawful, the path will be clear for bureaucrats and ambitious politicians to eliminate all of Ohio’s charter schools.  

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE