Have the Koch Brothers really infiltrated Vermont? Yes, the main argument used by the Vermont Public Service Department, the Public Utilities Commission and the Vermont utilities to kill solar is “cost shifting”. This argument was pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Koch Brothers funded think tank, at least as far back as 2014. It argues for cost-benefit analysis (a widely used technique for evaluating public and private investments) but leaving off the benefits. The Koch Brothers clear yet failing agenda is to protect coal-fired power plants. In the Vermont case, the monopoly utilities fear competition from Vermont residents and businesses going solar to save the planet.
| NEVADA | VERMONT |
| Solar Jobs 2015: Approximately 6,000 | Solar Jobs 2019: Approximately 6,000 |
| State Institution: Nevada PUC | State Institution: Vermont PUC |
| Argument: There was a total cost-shift of about $36 million per year from the 30,000 DG customers to non-DG customers (from Koch Brothers funded ALEC – American Legislative Exchange Council (https://www.alec.org/publication/net-metering-reform/ and https://www.alec.org/article/new-study-reveals-the-extent-of-rooftop-solar-cost-shift-in-nevada/). DG = distributed generation). | Argument: net-metering… has resulted in a significant cost-shift to non-participating customers (from VT Department of Public Service filing to PUC on November 1, 2019) |
| December 2015: The Nevada PUC reduced the value of net metering | |
| Jobs Lost: 2,000 | Jobs at risk of immediate loss: 2,000+ |
| Payroll lost: $60,000,000+ | Payroll at risk of immediate loss: $60,000,000+ |
| OUTCOME | |
| After public outcry, reinstated net metering in bipartisan bill in June 2017, signed by Republican Governor | |
| Statutorily guaranteed the right to self-generate electricityGuarantees the right for customers to interconnect rooftop solar or a solar-plus-storage system in a “timely manner,” | No statutory right to self-generate electricityNo statutory right to interconnect in a “timely manner” |
