50 cents for cleaner air and a lower electricity bill

Would you pay 50 cents a month to breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water, and ensure a more livable climate? 

What if everyone who agreed to pay 50 cents a month for cleaner air, cleaner water and a more livable climate, also had their electricity bill lowered 70 cents a month? 

That is essentially what the Net Meter Task Force report says will happen if we embrace solar power in Massachusetts. 

We get lower electricity bills and  cleaner air, cleaner water and less climate change. 

Any questions? 

According to the Net Metering Task Force report – the cost of supporting solar is $1.5 billion over the next 30 years. What does that mean for the average person? 

If you divide $1.5 billion by 30 years, you get an annual cost of $50 million dollars. 

Now let’s compare that number to the $10 billion dollars we spend on electricity a year. 

(55 billion kWh we use in the state at 18 cents / kWh. )

So the cost of going solar (according to the net metering task force report) is about half a percent of the total cost of our electricity. 

For an average homeowner who has a $100 electric bill – that means going solar would cost an extra $0.50 a month. 

But the benefits of going solar (again according to the net metering task force report) are $2.1 billion over 30 years. That works out to $0.70 a month in lower bills for the average homeowner with a $100 electric bill. 

That average customer nets a $0.20 a month lower electric bill and gets cleaner air, cleaner water and less climate change. 

The alternative is paying more for dirtier air, dirtier water and accelerating climate change. 

Which way would you vote? Less solar and higher bills?     or    More solar and lower bills?