Oklahoma: Here Comes The Sun-- Now Pay Up

Monday, Oklahoma's Republican governor, Mary Fallin, a lock-step right-wing ideologue and pawn of the Koch brothers, signed a bill fining or taxing Oklahomans who want to use solar power. It had passed both Houses of the Oklahoma legislature, and, in fact the House passed it 83-5. (Now this is a very, very red state but there are still 29 Democrats in the state House--72 Republicans-- and 12 Democrats in the state Senate--36 Republicans). Many of those Democrats, however, aren't Democrats that actual Democrats would recognize as Democrats. Many of them, for example, went right along with voting to tax the sun for the Koch brothers, a bill that reversed a 1977 Oklahoma law that forbade utilities to charge extra to solar users.

Americans overwhelmingly support green, renewable energy, even if the Koch brothers have ordered the GOP-- and conservative Democrats-- to oppose it. The most recent Gallup polling on the subject is crystal clear: "No fewer than two in three Americans want the U.S. to put more emphasis on producing domestic energy using solar power (76%), wind (71%), and natural gas (65%). Far fewer want to emphasize the production of oil (46%) and the use of nuclear power (37%). Least favored is coal, with about one in three Americans wanting to prioritize its domestic production." Although those numbers are so high because normal people-- 87% of Democrats and 74% of Independents-- favor solar energy, even among grassroots Republicans, if not GOP legislators, 68% favor solar power.

Last week, before Fallin signed the bill, Paul Moines, an energy reporter for the The Oklahoman wrote that "it’s the prospect of widespread adoption of rooftop solar that worries many utilities. A report last year by the industry’s research group, the Edison Electric Institute, warns of the risks posed by rooftop solar."

“When customers have the opportunity to reduce their use of a product or find another provider of such service, utility earnings growth is threatened,” the report said. “As this threat to growth becomes more evident, investors will become less attracted to investments in the utility sector.”

The report urged regulated utilities to move quickly to change their rate tariffs to recover fixed costs from distributed generation… [W]ith the prices of solar panels declining each year, installation costs are looking more attractive for many homeowners.

Chris Gary, owner of Sun City Solar Energy in Oklahoma City, said a 10-panel setup with a mirco-inverter now costs about $15,000, not including installation charges. A similar system cost almost twice that six years ago, he said.

Gary said the effects of SB 1456 won’t be known until the new tariffs get approved by the Corporation Commission. But news of the bill has sparked interest from potential customers.

“It may affect our business, but we don’t know yet,” Gary said. “Is it a killer for solar in Oklahoma? I don’t believe so, but when you open the door to a charge, that means it can always be increased. A speedbump could turn into a roadblock.”

So where were Democrats? Voting with Republicans… or ducking the bill altogether and hiding in the men's room while the vote was taken… apparently a common tactic for political cowards unwilling to stand up for Democratic values, even when they're overwhelmingly popular like solar energy. We've run into Democratic state Senator Al McAffrey before. He's the corporate shill running against progressive Tom Guild for the OK-05 congressional nomination. This is standard operating procedure for him.

You would think that the furious push back when McAffrey was MIA on the bill-- now law-- that went through the state senate to outlaw raising the minimum wage in Oklahoma, would have caused him to trim his MIA behavior. He didn’t vote against the bill that suspends the right of Oklahomans to petition the government for redress of grievances by adopting a higher minimum wage at the local level. The state senator decided to run against the progressive candidate Tom Guild, for the Democratic Party nomination for Congress in the Oklahoma City area, after James Lankford decided to follow his political social climbing instincts and run for the U.S. Senate instead of running for re-election to the house. Tom Guild is solid as a rock on the minimum wage issue both in word and in deed. He and his campaign helped gather over 60,000 signatures nationally to raise the minimum wage, Tom has carried the local petition and gathered signatures to raise the wage in Oklahoma City, and his campaign has gathered petition signatures at Guild for Congress events. McAffrey, refused to sign the local minimum wage petition when presented with an opportunity a few weeks back.

Well, disgracefully, he was at it again with the sun tax!  Does he ever oppose bills being pushed by ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council)? McAffrey was again missing in action and didn’t vote against the bill-- again, now law-- in a déjà vu all over again repeat non-performance. He once again didn’t do his main legislative duty and vote at all on the legislation when it came before the state senate. Senate Bill 1456 levies extra charges against homeowners who use solar panels or wind turbines. As Rachel Maddow asked last night, “Did warming yourself with the sun instead of coal just become a punishable offense in Oklahoma because it’s Oklahoma?”  Well, yes Rachel, that is just what happened, and McAffrey offered no resistance and didn’t bother to vote against this clunker of an uncommonly silly idea. The Koch group Americans for Prosperity must be giddy with celebration. Do we need to follow the money and see who in the fossil fuels branch of the energy industry has contributed to the various Oklahoma congressional candidates?

As we've been showing for the last couple of months, being an openly gay candidate (such as McAffrey)-- or an openly gay legislator (New York's Sean Patrick Maloney is the worst example)-- does not necessarily a progressive make. The choice is clear as a bell for Democratic voters in Oklahoma City. If they want the minimum wage and competitive renewable energy sources, the only dependable option is Tom Guild in the June 24 Democratic primary. If you'd like to help him get the message out, you can do that here.