Utilities Paying For Customers' Rooftop Solar Installations To Protect Their Business

Forget energy efficiency. Utilities now have to deal with demand destruction. "Utilities can’t stand in the way of progress. But not all are taking demand destruction lying down. Arizona, for example, is a natural state for rooftop solar. Rather than allowing leasing companies to eat its lunch, one of the state’s utilities, Arizona Public Service Co., is offering to put solar panels on 3,000 homes in its service areas for free. The utility would own the panels and the electricity they produced, and customers would get a $30 monthly credit for 20 years. Cannibalizing your own business has a long been a cliché in management circles. But this is one instance in which doing so is necessary if utilities want to keep the lights on." Daniel Gross in Slate.