Smile, You're Subsidizing TRPA's Power Bill

It's hardly news that the average Joe tends to get the shaft while special interests get, well, special treatment. But when the average Joe has to foot the bill for someone else, who can well afford it, that's something else.

Monday's Reno Gazette-Journal was especially rich with irony on a pair of stories regarding the cost of energy. First you had a front-page article on the pinch many customers are feeling these days in making their monthly payments to Sierra Pacific. A pinch that will only get a little harder if a proposed 16% increase in electricity rates is approved.

So after sympathizing with the woes of people facing the prospect of their lights being turned off, we flipped the page and found the following gem -- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency goes green with solar energy.

And while the article is horribly written (Is the TRPA selling some of this power back on the grid or is it just supplying a portion of its own needs? And, if so, how much?), your first reaction is "good for them." Until, of course, you read the rest of the story.

You see, despite the solar panels allegedly saving the agency over half a million dollars ($540K to be exact) in the next 30 years, they aren't paying full freight on the project. Heck, they aren't even paying half the $270,000 it will cost. No, their part of the bill is just $120K. Sierra Pacific is giving the agency a whopping $150K rebate. A rebate that, naturally, you, I and the poor slobs in the first story are paying for.

And if that's not enough, the TRPA was also given a reduced, and locked in for three decades(!), rate of just 7 cents a KW instead of the 12 everybody else currently pays. (Although, in fairness, the article is so poorly constructed we can't tell if this is for all the power they use or if it is a part of the rebate, which we don't think, or whatever.)

So next time you pay your Sierra Pacific bill, if you are able, just remember that thanks to you TRPA is paying a hell of a lot less.