BG HOMEOWNERS FILE LAWSUIT DUE TO ROOFTOP SOLAR PENALTY

(Bowling Green, OH) Today a lawsuit was filed in the Sixth District Court of Appeals due to a solar penalty instituted by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities. Despite repeated requests for an actual mathematical justification for the solar penalty instituted through Rider E in July 2021, homeowners Leatra Harper and Steven Jansto were unable to receive a satisfactory explanation from the city. After years of researching the matter, it was repeatedly found that solar disincentives are being promoted by big utility interests. One expert who was consulted stated that the utilities want to own all the electrons and not just the grid. The family also found that there is no real oversight for Utility Board decisions, with the Municipal Utility Director and the Utility Board being appointed positions. In addition, the provider of the BG’s electricity, American Municipal Power (AMP), has no oversight – not the PUCO or even the Ohio Consumers Council. With no other avenue for appeal, including their local and state elected representatives, with the inability to sell their home to recoup their clean energy investments, the Harper-Jansto Trust filed a Mandamus Action against the city for the loss in property value as a result of the Rider E penalty.

“Over the past couple years, we have researched extensively to understand why a municipal utility would penalize solar with a charge that one expert said was the highest that he had seen. In addition, the Municipal Utility cut the amount that was paid for the clean energy supplied by rooftop solar installations in the city in half. We requested records, but in sifting through them, could find no justification for the claim that we were costing our less-affluent neighbors, which we believe to be a thinly-veiled attempt to turn people against us and rooftop solar,” stated Leatra Harper, Managing Director of FreshWater Accountability Project. “Because of witnessing the harms of the fracking industry and the lobbyist influence on our elected officials, we wanted to get off the gas. We thought we were doing the right thing in the days of climate change. Instead, we were penalized, and our clean energy investment in our home was devalued.”

Prior to the Rider E penalty, Bowling Green indicated it was fully supportive of clean energy installations, which is why the plaintiffs believed their investment would be safe and valued.

Individuals and businesses who want to install solar must rely on a payback calculation to show that their upfront investment is justified. In comparison, large utilities can amortize the cost of solar installations into their rates, which homeowners cannot do.

To help promote rooftop solar or direct generation (DG), municipal utilities can promote community solar for those who rent or who do not want to make the large investment up front, making clean energy available and affordable for all. Cities like Ann Arbor are pursuing community solar, and legislation has been introduced in Ohio to promote community solar through a pilot program (HB197). In addition, the federal government is providing up to a 30% tax credit for the cost of installing solar to power homes in an effort to lessen carbon emissions and promote a green energy transition.

A letter from Tristan Rader, Ohio Program Director for Solar United Neighbors stated: “BG does not consider the true value of solar which includes the advantage of localized energy production and distribution that reduces wear and tear on the grid. Distributed generation of solar with battery backup contributes to grid stability amidst extreme weather events and other threats. There are significant environmental and public health benefits to solar energy production. These tangible benefits should be included when determining the value of solar. BG’s current approach significantly undermines the value of solar which makes it cost prohibitive for BG ratepayers to go solar. As the rest of the state and country demonstrate significant growth in rooftop solar systems – BG’s current net metering structure unreasonably limits the economic feasibility of rooftop solar.”

“It’s not only climate change, it’s the pollution and the destruction of clean air and water caused by the fracking industry and its toxic, radioactive waste that we witnessed when we lived in Southeast Ohio that makes us want to get off the gas and generate clean energy ourselves,” stated Steve Jansto. “We are seeing false solutions and fossil-fuel lobbyist efforts that are diverting from the investments that must be made now to promote clean energy like wind power and solar. That is why policies like Rider E cannot be allowed to stand without challenge. We do what we can to bring these issues forward, but it will take more than this lawsuit to right the wrongs perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry’s influence intended to discourage clean energy investments like ours.”

Numerous appeals have been made, including to Ohio Representative Ghanbari and Senator Gavarone. Those appeals, like the numerous emails to the Utility Board and BG City Council requesting justification or rescission of Rider E, went without being addressed. With no other avenue for redress, the only choice left was to file the lawsuit.

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