Off-Grid Guerrilla Games

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Some utilities provide a legal option. In Germany, Japan, Switzerland, two Canadian provinces, and 29 American states, power companies now offer 'net metering' or 'net billing' for people who rely on their own small-scale solar, wind, or hydro generators. These customers sell their surplus power to the utility, which simply requires a safety inspection to ensure that the system is up to code.

But winning the stamp of approval can take up to two years and miles of red tape, plus costly outlays for such items as multi-million-dollar liability insurance. After being passed from local to regional to state offices, Rogers eventually gave up on net metering for his California home.

Net-metering programs have not been a priority for utilities largely because the numbers don't make it worthwhile. Although the Washington, D.C.-based Worldwatch Institute cites solar power as the world's second-fastest-growing energy source, growing at 10 times the rate of the oil industry, only about 180,000 off-grid systems exist in the United States and fewer in Canada. Cost is a major factor. While the price of solar cells and wind turbines has dropped by more than two-thirds since 1980, most people aren't willing to fork out the estimated $7,000 to set up a renewable-energy system capable of sustaining a modern family's lifestyle. Even considering environmental benefits and the promise of major savings on electricity bills, solar and wind systems tend to be perceived as an expensive luxury. Utilities can argue that low demand simply doesn't justify committing significant resources to developing net metering.

Guerrilla setups, however, have forced power companies to sit up and take notice. Utilities cite safety concerns, but indie-power proponents point out that new inverters incorporate protections that safely synchronize a renewable-energy system with the utility grid. 'It's been proven over and over that the inverters are 100 percent fail-safe,' says Rogers. 'Safety is the song [the utilities] sing all the time, but it doesn't make any sense. I really don't understand where the resistance comes from.'

Other renewable-energy advocates hazard a guess: The utilities fear losing control of the market. Last year, Iowa's MidAmerican Energy Company challenged the state's net-metering legislation, claiming that having to buy energy from individuals with small-scale generators constituted 'forced purchase of electricity at a set price.' Utilities in Maine and California also challenged their state's net-metering policies. The companies lost these battles, but their willingness to spend time and money to fight them is revealing.

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