Steven Chu on HECO

“That’s another bullshit argument,” former US Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Forbes magazine, in response to HECO’s argument that solar installations threaten grid stabiity.

Jeff McMahon reports at Forbes:

“Instead of that, you need a better business model,” Chu said. “So I’m telling utility companies, this is coming down the line, so let’s think of a new business model where you can profit from this.”

In Chu’s business model, utilities will borrow money—because “utility companies get to borrow money as inexpensively as just about anyone in the United States”—to buy rooftop solar modules and batteries. Then they’ll partner with private rooftop-solar installation firms—”because I don’t expect a utility company to figure out how to do that”—to install rooftop panels and batteries at customer homes.

The utility will own the panels and batteries and sell electricity to the customers at a much lower rate.

Customers would not only get lower rates, they would get solar power without having to pay for installation, Chu said, and they would get a battery backup that can keep the lights on and the refrigerator running for up to a week in a power outage.