Obama helps residents

President Obama has entered the dispute over rooftop solar generation in Nevada.

Though Obama didn't directly address Nevada issues, he announced loan guarantees for rooftop solar arrays and other energy projects, which tends to support the residential side in the net metering battle.

The cap on net metering was not lifted or raised by the Nevada Legislature this year for residents who install rooftop solar systems and engage in sending power back to the grid, earning credits. So the net metering cap maxed out on Aug. 20. When that happened, new residential solar installations more or less came to a halt.

That legislative failure raised Sen. Harry Reid's hackles. He said utility lobbyists—and NV Energy owner Warren Buffett—are still living in the days of George Westinghouse, when all power generation was on a large utility model (“Issues pastiche,” RN&R, Aug. 27).