Solar Rooftop Energy Harms Minorities, Claims News Outlet Tied to Utility Industry
Politic365, a media website that touts itself as “the premier digital destination for politics and policy related to communities of color,” has emerged as a leading online critic of home solar energy, publishing nearly a dozen articles about how policies to promote solar energy-powered homes will harm minority groups, particularly African Americans.
The website looks and feels like a traditional media outlet, and in many ways it is. It covers a range of issues, from policing to the 2016 presidential campaign. But when it comes to energy policy, readers of the site may not realize that Politic365 is maintained by a public policy consulting firm that serves the utility industry.
The issue at hand is “net metering,” a rule that allows homeowners to claim credits for the electricity they generate and send back to the grid. Electric utility companies view the proliferation of such rules as a threat to their bottom line and are lobbying to repeal net metering policies throughout the country.
Politic365 has published article after article criticizing net metering, arguing that the policy leads to regressive rate hikes. Matthew C. Whitaker, a guest contributor, claimed that net metering will increase utility rates on low-income customers, meaning the policy will have a “negative impact on African Americans.” Another article, by Politic365’s E.R. Barnette, asked why “are policies like net energy metering allowed to proliferate unchecked when they hurt the American people who can’t afford [sic] install solar panels?” Politic365 founder and editor-in-chief Kristal High has blogged multiple times in opposition to net metering, at one point castigating a proponent of rooftop solar as aloof and “privileged.”
The Utility companies tried this one on in Australia as well, Solar panel sales are continuing to increase, both for credits and for leaving the grid altogether.



