State says ‘wait’ on solar system rentals

By Cy Ryan (contact)

Friday, March 21, 2008 | 2 a.m.

To help consumers cope with the high cost of solar heating systems, three out-of-state companies hope to rent or lease them to homeowners and businesses.

But their plans have been put on hold by the state Public Utilities Commission, which wants to make sure customers are protected.

“We’re caught in a gray area of the rules,” said Erika Morgan, senior vice president of communications for Citizenre Corp. of Wilmington, Del. But she said she’s encouraged by the commission’s rejection of its staff’s suggestion that the companies must be regulated as public utilities.

Although solar systems help consumers save money on their electric bills, they are expensive to purchase, often costing homeowners $10,000-plus, after rebates.

Golden Sierra Power Inc., which has rental solar systems running in California in wineries and other places, is planning to install the leased units at the offices of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and a privately owned building in Carson City that houses the state Business and Industry Department.

Citizenre, which will concentrate on residential customers, says it has more than 500 homeowners in Las Vegas willing to try the new rental agreements.

PUC Chairwoman Jo Ann Kelly said the commission will open a study of the subject at its next meeting. If the companies are considered public utilities, they would not be allowed to operate in the territories of Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co., according to the PUC staff.

The other company interested in the commission’s decision is SunEdison LLC, which bills itself as the largest solar power provider in the nation that concentrates on large retail customers.

Adam Grant, spokesman for Nevada Power, said only 250 solar units have been built in the past four years statewide.

But Morgan suggested thousands in Clark County alone might be willing to sign up for a leasing program under which homeowners would pay an initial fee of $500 to $1,000 and monthly rent based on the cost of power. The one-, five- and 25-year contracts would lock in a price that would not rise when Nevada Power boosts its rates.

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Thousands of government workers and retirees covered by the state’s health insurance program are in for a shock July 1.

“There will be significant adjustments in rates,” said Leslie Johnstone, executive officer of the state Public Employees Benefit Program, which provides coverage for about 67,000 government workers and their dependents.

Nonstate workers — local government and school district employees — enrolled in the plan and nonstate retirees without Medicare will be hit with a 30 percent-plus increase in monthly premiums. Nonstate employees’ monthly health insurance premium will rise to $698, a 32.2 percent hike, while retirees without Medicare who did not work for the state will see a 33.4 percent increase to $684.

Angus MacEachern, a member of the board that oversees the program, said the increases will price some nonstate workers out of the program. To soften the blow, the system will draw $9.2 million from its reserves to keep those rates from going that high.

The system, budgeted at $360 million for this fiscal year, covers 26,476 active state employees, 7,089 state retirees, 835 nonstate active government workers and 6,040 nonstate retirees.

Retirees with Medicare will see their monthly premiums drop by about 30 percent because Medicare covers most hospital and doctors’ bills.

An active state employee without any dependents will not see any change in his rates. The monthly premium for workers with families will go from $48 a month this fiscal year to $61 next year, a 27 percent increase.