Power put on the grid by a solar homeowner costs Idaho Power almost nothing | Opinion
Solar
Idaho Power wants to cut payments to solar homeowners for electricity they produce for use by neighboring consumers. They argue that this shifts the costs of maintaining the grid to non-solar users. This flawed argument could be made against anyone reducing their energy bills by installing better windows, more insulation, lowering their thermostats etc. It also completely ignores the fact that whether you use a little or a lot of power, Idaho Power charges you to pay a flat fee to cover the fixed cost to maintain the grid which consists of thousands of miles of power lines, transformers and substations.
The power put on the grid by a solar homeowner costs Idaho Power almost nothing. It is generated and available to neighborhood consumers without use or impact to the statewide grid. Idaho Power sells that power at the full rate and issues a credit to the solar homeowner in the same amount. Both Idaho Power and all users benefit from a clean source of locally generated power that uses little to none of the grid and reduces the need to purchase or generate new green or fossil fuel power.
Go online https://puc.idaho.gov/Form/CaseComment to tell the IPUC to reject this proposal, IPC-E-23-14.
Thomas Buchta, Boise
Donate blood
Red Cross is facing a national blood shortage. Fewer donors than needed gave this summer, drawing down the national blood supply and reducing distributions of some of the most needed blood types to hospitals. Hurricane Idalia further strained the blood supply with blood drive cancellations.
Right now, hospital demand for blood products is outpacing the number of donations coming in. When Idalia slammed into the Southeast – leading to power outages, travel hazards and flooding – the storm also caused hundreds of blood and platelet donations to go uncollected. This compounded a shortfall of about 30,000 donations in August.
A strong national blood supply is critical to being able to provide routine and timely care for patients. On behalf of the Red Cross, I’m asking donors not to wait to give. People across the country depend on the generosity of blood donors.
Donors of all blood types are urgently needed, and there is an emergency need for platelet donors and type O blood donors. Make your appointment to give blood by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Vanessa Fry, chair, American Red Cross of Idaho and East Oregon board of directors
Supreme Court
How are we supposed to trust the Supreme Court when they lack basic judgment?
If Justice Clarence Thomas is able to take huge amounts of cash (maybe along with others, who knows?) from billionaires and get “Citizens United” passed, which allows his “unstable” wife to become queen of some “ungodly” slush fund of corruption, to allow billionaires to take over our republic and screw common people over, why did we kill so many British?
If Justice John Roberts wants to give speeches to the “fine folks on the other side in Colorado Springs” about the legitimacy of this court, why shouldn’t schoolchildren relieve themselves on his grave?
Asking in “all due respect as a Christian conservative.”
Teach civics.
If your kid can’t pass the (citizenship) exam when they are 18, you and your entire local, state and federal government have failed you as a citizen, full stop.
Matthew Wells Sanders, Payette
Treaty rights
Our First Nations people need to demand their treaty rights be honored in order to save the Snake River salmon and steelhead.
The river must be restored around the four lower dams.
Only 1% return at the present time and must be increased to 2% minimum in order to save the fish.
The only way to get that increase is to bypass the dams and restore the river.
What an insult and legal wrongdoing to not honor our First Nations treaty rights!
Odos Lowery, Boise
This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 4:00 AM.