Public Service Commission puts a stop to freeloading on Alabama's electrical grid

They wanted you to pick up the tab for their use of Alabama’s electrical grid.

A bold move, no doubt. But getting something for nothing is a popular notion these days.

The entire premise of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign was giving out free stuff, including housing and healthcare. He finished in second place in the nomination process for one of the country’s two major parties.

Elizabeth Warren put forth a plan for taxpayers to pay off all student loans and provide free college tuition for everyone in America. She came in third.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, better known as AOC, has garnered 8.5 million Twitter followers, and become one of the leading national political figures, by advocating for free everything.

Late last year, a slew of environmentalists marched down to Alabama’s Public Service Commission (PSC) to get in on the action. They asked that anyone with solar panels atop their house not be charged for using Alabama Power’s electrical infrastructure.

How they sought to justify this is anyone’s guess. The reality is that it’s smart to include solar in an energy portfolio along with natural gas, nuclear, coal and hydro. But anyone can tell you that relying entirely on solar is a foolish approach, which is why these users needed to stay connected to the grid. Solar doesn’t work at night or on cloudy days. They simply did not want to pay to continue accessing the grid.

Advocates for free access to the grid have used the fact that many other states allow it as an argument for why it should be possible in Alabama. Just because officials in other states have been hoodwinked and bullied by liberal environmentalists does not mean it is good policy.

One of those “model” states is California.

California has seen unprecedented rolling blackouts this summer because they are trying to convert all of their energy production to solar and wind.

Millions of homes and businesses have been left without power for hours at a time because California has allowed its energy policy to get hijacked by the same groups fighting for freeloaders on Alabama’s electrical grid.

Environmental activists in California have doubled-down on unworkable solutions for fixing its energy shortages.

One of those solutions offered to generate more energy in the Golden State is something called pumped storage. This involves pumping water uphill (which requires energy) from one reservoir to another. Some amount of energy is then generated by releasing that same water back down the hill to spin turbines.

Yikes.

If that is how California thinks power should be generated to fuel a 21st century economy, then they are in big trouble.

That is why the PSC stepping in and putting an end to this nonsense is so important to Alabama’s economy. This past week, the PSC ordered that rooftop solar users have to pay to use the state’s electrical infrastructure just like everyone else.

Small businesses and working families across the state already have enough obstacles in their road to recovery. They do not need to also carry rooftop solar users on their backs.

Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia