Tele Convo Details Solar Rebate RENEW MO

I just had an informative telephone conversation with RENEW MO Director Mr M Walter (Corrected and Updated Information 11/12/2014 Scotty).  We discussed a few things about the State of Affairs specifically AmerenUE suspending the Solar Rebate option for customers in the St.Louis Region.

Thumbs Up Clean Energy Solar in St.Louis

I'm going to share some of our conversation that was not included in his email (see corrected post below):

• Corrected and updated information via Mark-Renew Missouri 11/12/14 (strikethrough comments were/are partially incorrect)
  • Even though Ameren UE has suspended (illegally) the Solar Rebate that is paid to customers who install a clean energy system.  He suggests: "still apply for the Solar Rebate".  
  • His reasoning is: "We the Voters voted this program into existence" which was then challenged by the Lobbying Efforts by the Electric Companies statewide.
  • Just because this program is in limbo is by no reason for not applying since the Legislation is being challenged.  If RENEW MO is successful in their ongoing Court Battle:
  Anyone who has applied and installed a Clean Energy System could benefit retroactively from the Net Metering Request
  
  
  Thanks for the blog post the other day.  Has it gotten much attention?  In the future, Renew Missouri and I personally would love to be involved in your blog in whatever capacity we can.  If you wouldn't mind, we would appreciate it if you'd run any of our conversations by us before you post them on your blog.  There are a couple of things that aren't accurate on the blog post that I'd like to try and get straight.
  
  
  First, there are a few lawsuits going on in Missouri, and Renew Missouri is only involved in one of them.  
  1. In September, we wrapped up a case against Empire Electric in the Supreme Court.  We're still waiting to hear back on the verdict, but if we win then people in Empire Territory only will likely have their rebates reinstated.  We're encouraging solar installers to prepare rebate forms for their customers in Empire Territory only so that should we hear a positive verdict, we can create a rush of solar rebates for customers.
  
  
  The other big case in Missouri right now is Solar LLC (representing several solar companies in the state) and Missouri Coalition for the Environment vs. the Missouri PSC attempting to reinstate rebates for all of the Investor Owned Utilities.  Should they win the case, it is likely that rebates will get reinstated for all customers in IOU territory.  It is possible that if people were wrongfully denied solar rebates (i.e. they applied for solar rebates during the time that the IOUs decided they weren't paying) that they can then get retroactive payment through a separate lawsuit, but since Renew Missouri is not a party to this law suit in any way, we aren't advising our supporters to do anything like that.  I'm sorry if I wasn't very clear in our conversation and I accept total responsibility for any murkiness there.

Mark Walter
Renew Missouri
Deputy Director
(573) 590-2255

End- Corrected Information

• Which is a great thing!  Especially since Ameren is a Co-Owner in any clean energy system that is hooked to the grid.  Thats right: if your system is hooked to their power supply via your electric meter-
  They partly own your system because they can then count this net metering towards the Renewable Energy Target set by the Voters of Missouri.  (The energy created by your clean energy system that you do not have to pay for or buy from the electric company gets credited to Ameren.)  You reap the savings and Ameren gets the credit and then skirts their duty on paying for the Solar Rebate established by Missouri Voters.

I personally have no desire to help a company that poisons the world with Dirty Coal Pollution.  

So I've been working behind the scenes on a way to bring the Residents of St.Louis a clean energy solar system that is affordable and will enable you to completely eliminate Ameren from the mix.

My Goal: 

1. Provide St.Louis Residents with an option to have a clean energy system that is affordable without the Solar Rebate from Ameren. 
2. I've set up an accounts with a Solar Finance company's who is helping everyday Americans become self sufficient by generating their own clean energy electricity without having to burn Dirty Coal. 

Drop me a line, Send an Email, or fill in the contact form and I will help you become energy independent and free you from the Electric Companies grip on your finances and health.

Scotty,

"It was great chatting with you this afternoon.  I think it's pretty clear that we're both in the same place on the issues facing the solar industry today.  I'm glad you have found a good product to offer your customers to help them get over the big front end investment.  I'm sure that will make a big difference as you work harder on sales.

Like I was saying, we've been putting together a campaign with solar installers around the state to reach out to their previous customers and hopefully get some referral business for them while educating the homeowners on their solar rights.  As the legislative session gears up again, we'll be trying to build our grassroots supporters so they can call their legislators and let them know what they'd like to see done, and this will be an important step in that direction.

Let me know what you think or if you have any input on anything else.  It will be great to chat with you as we move forward this year.  And as always, if there's anything we can do to help you out, let us know.

All the best,

Mark Walter
Renew Missouri
Deputy Director
(573) 590-2255"

Background on Renewable Energy Standards via RENEW MO

• In 2007 and 2008, Renew Missouri spearheaded the Missouri Clean Energy initiative via the statewide ballot process. The initiative, which was called Proposition C, passed with 66% of the vote makes Missouri the 27th state to have a renewable electricity standard (RES), and only the 3rd to pass it by ballot initiative. 
  
  • Prop C requires investor-owned utilities to get 15% of their electricity from clean energy sources by 2021, 2% of which must come from solar.
  • Through 2030, Prop C is expected a carbon reduction equivalent to permanently removing 2 million cars from the road by 2021.
  • Prop C includes a solar rebate program that will make it cheaper for most Missourians to install a solar system on their home or business.
  • Over the next 20 years, Prop C is predicted to save Missourians $331 million on their electric bills and is expected to stimulate in-state generation of renewable energy sources resulting in thousands of new “green-collar” jobs.

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