PELLA, Iowa (AP) — Facing a backlash, a rural Iowa power co-operative is dropping a plan to charge customers who install solar panels on their homes a special $85 monthly charge.
The Pella Cooperative Electric Association withdrew its proposal Thursday in a filing with the Iowa Utilities Board.
The plan had angered customers who have or were planning to install solar generation systems that would connect with the utility’s distribution system. Environmental groups and solar energy backers were also opposed, calling the charge discriminatory.
In a news release, the association insists the plan was justified because it covered solar customers’ true cost of service.
But the group says that it has withdrawn the plan until “we can better educate our members and the community as to the fair and equitable recovery of fixed costs.”
