Welfare for the Well-to-Do

Here.

Excerpt:

...since the money for these programs is raised through a fee levied on ratepayers — and the poor spend a greater proportion of their income on power than the wealthy do — the poor get soaked twice: first with a regressive tax; then when most of the money is handed out to wealthy homeowners and businesses. As Water and Power President Nick Patasaouras puts it, “The rich boys and girls are subsidized by the little guys.”

The kicker is: Despite all the spending, the subsidies have only produced 10.2 megawatts of power since 1999, well below the pace to meet their goal of 280 megawatts by 2016. Thus far, despite all the promises that public investment in renewable energy is for the greater public good, it really amounts to welfare for the well-to-do.