Red tape, bureaucracy, government regulations, create a tax on residential and commercial solar power. According to The New York Times that hidden tax adds 30% to the cost of solar and “that could rise to 50 percent in a few years.”
“This is in essence a hidden tax on solar,” said Ken Button, the president of Verengo Solar Plus, a residential solar panel installer in Orange, CA. Cleaning up and simplifying the municipal regulations would result in the equivalent of a $1 billion stimulus for the industry. I am sure that $1 billion stimulus would be an enormous benefit to the industry.
It’s interesting to note that even in liberal California where they have tried so many ways to promote green energy, “We have 50 different permitting authorities within 50 miles of our office,” Mr. Button said. “They all have different documentation requirements, different filing processes, different fee structures. It’s like doing business in 50 different countries — just in Southern California.”
We need to demand that our government get out of the way of alternative energy development.
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