Behind the Tea Party Push For Solar in Georgia – Forbes

In many regions in the country, conservative politicians view solar power as an unwarranted extension of government regulation.

In Georgia, it’s the other way around.

An unusual coalition of conservative law makers, solar advocates, tea party members, the NRDC and the Sierra Club have made Georgia a new bright spot in the U.S. solar market. Earlier this month, for instance, the state’s Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to required Georgia Power to obtain 525 megawatts of solar for its operations by 2016.

The ruling is the latest event in what has been a loud, two-year fight. But what makes Georgia’s solar fight different is that solar advocates aren’t just selling solar as a way to reduce emissions or reduce fossil fuels. Solar has been positioned as a property rights issue pitting private citizens against utilities, regulators and fixed rates of return.

“Are New York bondholders more important than Georgia ratepayers?” Jason Rooks, a lobbyist for the Georgia Solar Energy Association, asks rhetorically. “This is about free market. This is about property rights. It is about technology and innovation.”

If the strategy continues to work, it could become a template for the advocates in rest of the country. Call it the “the enemy of my enemy is my utility” battle plan.

The hot button issue in the state in 2012 was solar leasing, the wildly popular business model employed by companies like Sungevity in California, Massachusetts and elsewhere. Under a solar lease, companies don’t sell solar panels under these contracts—they build small power plants on spare roof space and make their profits on the spread between their costs and the cost of power.

via Behind the Tea Party Push For Solar in Georgia – Forbes.