By Michael P. Rethman – Politicians prey on voters who forget that there is “no free lunch.”
As a biomedical scientist and one-time apprentice electrician, it’s been obvious from the start that Hawaii’s tax incentives encouraging photovoltaics would precipitate grid-related problems in terms of managing thousands of autonomous and intermittent power sources.
Indeed, I covered my roof with PV early-on to avoid the inevitable capacity restrictions now increasingly common across Hawaii.
And when it comes to proposed solutions… my, my do ironies abound! The latest is Earthjustice’s argument that HECO should pass to all customers the cost of grid improvements that would benefit only a few.
Left-leaning, anti-fracking Earthjustice knows this regime would hit Hawaii’s middle class — who seldom own their own roofs and already pay America’s highest electricity rates.
Just like Obamacare, and despite smiley promises to the contrary, “thunk” is the bitter sound of another sweet-sounding and oversold progressivist program that can no longer escape real-life problems — usually long-predicted by conservatives.
Michael P. Rethman is a resident of Oahu.