‘It’s just smarter’: Solar advocates rally at Idaho Capitol, applaud federal climate law

Wearing a pointed crown and a golden cape, an environmentalist dressed as the sun was surrounded by activists holding signs printed with solar panels in front of the Idaho Capitol. Then actors dressed in suits — representing Idaho’s governor, Legislature and Public Utilities Commission — stepped out of the Capitol and walked down to the sun and her coterie, pushing the solar panels away from the energy source.

A Star Wars-themed battle ensued: a performer in a Darth Vader costume — representing “monopoly” electric utilities — versus citizens in favor of solar. In the end, the solar-backers won, and gave their antagonists cut sunflowers to end the conflict.

The street theater skit was part of a Saturday rally held by Idaho environmental groups who are upset that state leaders have not embraced rooftop solar and other local renewable energy projects. The protest arrived seven months after Idaho Power won a contest with local environmentalists at the Public Utilities Commission over how much residents with rooftop solar should be reimbursed for sending power back onto the grid, a system that for years has allowed people who invested in solar power to recoup their costs.

Idaho Power has a goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2045, and has plans to bring online more industrial-scale solar, wind and battery storage capacity in the coming decades. But in January, at Idaho Power’s request, the utilities commission reduced reimbursement rates for rooftop solar by between 23% to 38% , angering advocates who contended the change will make residents less likely to buy solar panels, leading them to rely more on the grid.

Those changes are “blocking the ability for local individuals and communities to also contribute to that clean energy revolution,” Lisa Young, who led the rally and is the director of the Idaho Sierra Club, told the Idaho Statesman on Saturday. “Rooftop solar will not cover all of our energy needs, but it sure would help.”

Other groups represented at the Saturday event included the anti-nuclear Snake River Alliance and the Boise Bicycle Project. Several of Boise’s Democratic politicians — Sen. Rick Just, Rep. John Gannon, and District 15 House candidate Shari Baber — were also there.

The morning rally drew about 50 people and four dogs.

“As we sit here in this smoky air and (see) the sun trying to power through it, it reminds us that we’re in the middle of a climate crisis,” said Cathy Brown, a Boise grandmother, noting the weeks of summer weather with temperatures in the triple digits and her wish to create a better future for her grandkids. A retiree, she told the Statesman she wants to install solar panels on her own home, and that rooftop solar should be part of the “portfolio of green energy.”

The largest electricity provider in the state, Idaho Power contends the company is a “strong supporter of clean energy,” Brad Bowlin, a spokesperson, told the Statesman by phone. “We think that solar is a great energy resource when the price is right for our customers.”

Bowlin said the changes to the reimbursement structure in the utilities commission’s case decided in January were necessary because rooftop solar customers were being compensated at higher rates than the energy was worth, which amounted to most of the company’s customers paying a “subsidy” to the 2% who have rooftop solar.

“We’re certainly not trying to throttle rooftop solar or any other customer generation,” he said.

Young, with the Sierra Club, said the company’s arguments about subsidizing other ratepayers are “not true” and not reflected in outside research.

Solar panels on households connected to the grid are a “benefit to the utility, a benefit to all ratepayers,” she said.

Activists applaud federal climate law

August marks the two-year anniversary of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill. The law includes cost incentives for Americans to adopt a range of greener household technologies, from rooftop solar panels to heat pumps, and deduct close to a third of the cost . Last year, U.S. residents took advantage of more than $8 billion of the law’s tax credits, which was more than a three-fold increase over what Congress estimated for the law’s first year, according to federal data .

In Idaho, more than 17,000 households took advantage of at least one of the credits allowed under the law, for a total of nearly $44 million in savings, according to data from the IRS .

Money from the law has also gone toward tribes in Idaho. The Environmental Protection Agency this summer awarded more than $37 million to the Nez Perce Tribe to improve energy efficiency in 650 tribal homes and replace wood stoves with higher-efficiency stoves in 350 homes. The funds will also be used to install solar power on tribal properties, according to the EPA.

Rachel Edwards, secretary of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, spoke at the rally and tied the push for clean energy to the tribe’s efforts to restore salmon runs by removing dams on the lower Snake River, which currently contribute to the preponderance of electricity in the state that comes from hydropower. Salmon are in peril from climate change, and boosting solar energy production could allow the energy from dams to be replaced, she said. The tribe also has its own solar energy initiative .

“In our legends, the salmon were first to give themselves to the people for sustenance,” she told the Statesman. Replacing hydropower is a “strong portion” of the tribe’s efforts to save salmon, she said.

Edwards also emphasized how more efficient wood stoves in tribal homes could reduce adverse health effects from burning fuel, and pointed out how Indigenous people often suffer from higher rates of chronic conditions .

Rally-goer Omar Williams, a Boise resident, said he hadn’t heard much about the federal law’s incentives until recently, and was enthusiastic about efforts to install solar panels near low-income housing to reduce energy costs for families.

“Electric bills is high,” he said in an interview. With solar, “it’s just smarter,” he added.