Legislature may force you to buy what you don’t want

In a continuing effort by the ruling elite to make decisions for people who are too stupid to make decisions for themselves, the state legislature may soon decide what we can and can’t spend our money on.

The legislature is considering two bills, S3 and HB77 which will require utility customers to pay an extra tax on electricity that will be hidden in electricity rates. The bills require that utilities in the state provide 7.5% of their electricity through renewable sources such as wind, solar, and biomass. In addition, the two bills mandate that utilities use energy efficiency incentives that will cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in order to reduce energy consumption. The hidden taxes will fund these energy efficiency programs and will further subsidize the production of energy from renewable sources. The legislature sees this as necessary for two reasons:

1. Despite the fact that numerous federal and state subsidies for the production of renewable energy already exist – in some cases providing tax credits for up to 70% of the cost of production – renewable sources of energy are still uncompetitive with conventional sources. Therefore, in order to make renewable energy more competitive, you will have to pay an additional tax on top of the taxes you already pay to subsidize this industry.

2. North Carolinians already have the option to pay a premium to receive some electricity from renewable sources through the NC GreenPower program. However, this program has seen only dismal participation rates as North Carolinians have elected to receive only 0.011% of their energy through this program. The need for a renewable energy mandate is a direct result of the fact that people do not want to pay more for renewable energy. Therefore, they must be required to do so.

Apparently, you CAN spend money on expensive and unreliable sources of energy. You CAN’T spend (much less) money on cheap and reliable energy sources. Thanks, big government, for making our lives simpler by making our consumer decisions for us.

Daren and I recently completed an easy-to-read question and answer guide on what is being called a “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard” that details the impact that this could have on North Carolina.