At issue was whether or not homes with solar could sell their electricity at the retail rate or the wholesale rate. There was conflict between Buffet and Musk because Buffet owns the power company NV Energy whereas Musk works in the business of solar. All that said, it looks like AB 405 moves pretty closely back to the old system where solar customers can sell power back at 95% of the retail rate.
Anyway, power is and probably should be tightly regulated. It's worth having an open conversation as to how much money a solar customer should be paid for selling power onto the grid just like we have regulations for all of the other power producers. That doesn't mean they have to be the same regulations, but setting and moving the rate number isn't inherently good or bad.
>>The PUC “has effectively shut down the rooftop-solar industry and taken the extraordinary step to punish over 12,000 existing solar customers, including schools, with exorbitant fees in what appears to be an attempt to protect the profits of the state’s largest utility. All three members of the PUC, who voted unanimously to change the rules, were appointed by Governor Sandoval.”
>>Rive said: “Most disturbing is the PUC’s decision to retroactively sabotage existing solar customers’ investments by changing the rules on them. The Nevada government encouraged these people to go solar with financial incentives and pro-solar policies, and now the same government is punishing them for their decision with new costs they couldn’t have foreseen. These actions are certainly unethical, unprecedented, and possibly unlawful. While the rest of the country embraces a clean energy future, Nevada is moving backwards.”
Net metering isn't even a US law thing, it's a physics law thing. Just basic physics should tell you that selling power for the same price you buy it doesn't make sense due to heat loss in the lines.
If you want a battery buy one, don't try to use the grid as a giant battery.
