SB 430 Needs Your Support Now
State Senator J.D. Ford has proposed SB 430, to start the process of rolling back the most egregious parts of SB 309–by eliminating the phase-out of net metering. As with all bills, the only way that this bill will continue through the state legislature is if State Senator Jim Merritt, Chair of the Indiana Senate Utilities Committee and Indiana Republican mayoral hopeful running in 2019, allows the bill to have a hearing.
The bill first needs to have a hearing in the Senate Utilities Committee before it can be voted out of committee and onto the Indiana Senate Floor. You can call Senator Jim Merritt’s office asking him to hear the bill at 1-800-382-9467 or 317-232-9400. You can also send an email or a tweet to Senator Jim Merritt requesting that SB 430 has a hearing by clicking on the link below.
CONTACT JIM MERRITT TODAY ON SB 430
History of Anti-Solar Bill SB 309
Two years ago, in 2017, Senators Brandt Hershman and James (Jim) Merritt co-authored Senate Bill 309 at the Indiana State Legislature. This bill did a couple of things–reviewed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commissions roles and responsibilities and more sinisterly, gave utilities more control over our energy systems by reducing the amount that individual renewable energy producers (homes, schools, business, and congregations), could be compensated for connecting their solar or wind units onto the electric grid. Net metering–when a small electric generator producing energy gets back from the grid the equivalent energy rate for every kilowatt hour of energy they put on the grid–will be phased out over the next 15 years as a result of SB 309. While solar installations could still make economic sense for individual investors, having an equal return on your solar grid investment through net metering is the only fair, equitable, and market-driven answer, and the only one that should be reflected in our policies according to Solar Power Rocks and the Citizens Action Coalition. Even though less than 1% of Indiana’s energy comes from these types of distributed energy sources, utilities want to maintain control over the market.
Thank you for your past support in fighting SB 309!
Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light was one of the many coalition partners that fought SB309 in the statehouse and with your help we were very close to defeating the bill. During the hearings, hundreds of resident, school administrators, farmers, and business owners from around the state showed up in opposition. Many people testified against the bill, while only a handful–almost all utility-backed lobbyists–supported it.
The fight to transition to clean renewable energy with a grid that can withstand the pressures of climatic variation and provide affordable energy to everyone is still our main goal.
The pressure we can exert on Senator Merritt to set a hearing for SB 430–even if the bill isn’t passed this session–will send a signal that we haven’t forgotten about SB309 and we want our solar back!