Another Overreaction from TUSK
In its latest unhinged bombast, the solar leasing front group, , criticizes four representatives of Congress for seeking information about protecting consumers in their 
interactions with rooftop solar leasing companies. Signed by three Arizona Representatives (Kyrsten Sinema (D), Ron Barber (D) and Ann Kirkpatrick (D)) and
Representative Gene Green (D-TX), the letter poses four questions to Richard Cordray, the Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
interactions with rooftop solar leasing companies. Signed by three Arizona Representatives (Kyrsten Sinema (D), Ron Barber (D) and Ann Kirkpatrick (D)) andRepresentative Gene Green (D-TX), the letter poses four questions to Richard Cordray, the Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
- What steps has the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau taken to investigate the possibility that misleading sales techniques are being employed in the rooftop solar industry?
- What protections are in place to ensure that consumers who are considering entering into long-term solar leasing arrangements are made fully aware of the long-term implications of these transactions?
- What has the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau done to investigate complaints that have arisen about the marketing techniques employed by some rooftop solar leasing operations?
- Has the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considered performing staff review of third-party leases in the rooftop solar industry and issuing recommendations on how we can better educate and protect consumers contemplating these transactions?
Yes, these are the four questions Representatives Sinema, Barber, Kirkpatrick and Green ask in their letter and, over which, TUSK blows up. These are questions that any elected official might ask when representing the issues which concern their constituents. And, for merely doing their job – asking relevant questions on behalf of their constituents – TUSK labels them as “liberal lawmakers” seeking to “generalize and smear an entire industry.”
Well, I certainly didn’t read it that way. And, I’m not the only one.
If, as TUSK professes, “The [rooftop solar leasing] industry plays by the rules, follows the law, and . . . values its customers and reputation,” then why does TUSK come unglued when the industry is given the opportunity to strut its stuff in front of Congress or defend its practices before the agency assigned that role? After all, haven’t the four congressmen given it just that opportunity?
And, it’s not as if these concerns are newly surfaced. ACC Chairman, earlier this year when consumer problems with rooftop solar leasing in Tucson were brought to his attention.
Finally, TUSK complains:
The timing and motive of the letter is curious as Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power seek state approval for a job killing plan that would use ratepayer dollars to try and kill the rooftop solar industry in Arizona and the thousands of jobs that go with it. It is also curious to note the letter was written after the Democratic Party suffered huge losses at the ballot box and a loss of credibility because of the Obamacare debacle.
Huh? Obamacare? Job killing? – a mighty curious assertion given the local job creating proposal put forth by APS.
So, the hysterical paranoia from the solar front group continues. The next chapter begins today with SRP’s announcement that it will be seeking additional charges from new rooftop solar customers in its service territory. The new charges are to pay the fixed costs of maintaining the grid so solar customers can connect to sell excess power back to SRP and receive supplemental and backup power from SRP when solar panels are not producing power. Like the battle fought a year ago by APS, TUSK will likely park its circus tent at Project Drive in Tempe this time and resurrect its rabid public relations campaign in an effort to sully SRP.
The rooftop solar industry’s overwrought desperation in these matters stems from its business model, which is dependent on subsidies from taxpayers and other electricity customers. Without the smorgasbord of a free lunch, that model is simply unsustainable.