{"id":186111,"date":"2025-10-02T23:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T23:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/186111\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T23:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T23:23:20","slug":"the-political-case-for-rooftop-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/186111\/","title":{"rendered":"The political case for rooftop solar"},"content":{"rendered":"

From\u00a0China<\/a> and\u00a0India<\/a> to\u00a0Europe<\/a> and\u00a0Africa<\/a>, solar power is in the process of radically transforming the global energy system. It\u2019s bringing cheap (and ever-cheaper) energy to the places that need it most, allowing countries that have traditionally relied on imported oil and gas to imagine a future where they don\u2019t have to anymore. Why? Well, as political strategist James Carville might say, it\u2019s the economics, stupid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In North America, though, the politics are getting the last word right now. Climate advocates are contending with an American president who\u00a0describes climate science as a \u201cscam\u201d<\/a> and continues to treat renewable energy as a bigger threat to his country\u2019s security than Russia or China. But they\u2019re also faced with a well-meaning and environmentally literate Canadian prime minister who keeps removing or diluting key pieces of their own country\u2019s climate policy architecture in order to stave off political defeat. In both cases, the absence of a viable and vocal political constituency supporting low-carbon technology is making their respective jobs easier.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, although economists have largely dominated the conversation about climate policy in Canada over the last decade or so, it\u2019s time \u2014 past time, really \u2014 for the political scientists to take the reins. The conversation around rooftop solar is a perfect example of why, and how, this shift needs to happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Economists will tell you rooftop solar isn\u2019t competitive in Canada, and they\u2019d be right. According to the\u00a02024 edition<\/a> of Lazard\u2019s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis \u2014 the most popular way to compare the cost of different energy technologies \u2014 the most expensive utility-scale solar or onshore wind project is still cheaper than the cheapest rooftop setup. \u201cBoth the capital costs and the operating costs of rooftop solar on small buildings like residential homes are just not competitive with large-scale solar,\u201d climate scientist and entrepreneur David Keith said in a recent podcast. \u201cPeople should be free to do it but I don\u2019t think we should give them special incentives.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is both technically correct and dangerously wrong, since it misunderstands the real obstacle standing in the way of more widespread adoption of low-carbon technology. Most people barely understand where their electricity comes from, never mind the impact that competing sources and technologies can have on their monthly bills. That\u2019s especially true when you have politicians and pundits deliberately muddying these already cloudy waters in the service of incumbent industries and their interests. Utility-scale solar may be cheaper, but it does almost nothing to advance the popularity of the underlying technology or increase the size of the political constituency supporting it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am reminded here, as I have been before when writing about climate policy, of\u00a0Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli\u2019s theory of change. \u201cIt ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things,\u201d he wrote. \u201cBecause the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the inherent complexity of (and in) our electricity system, it\u2019s asking a lot of people to understand the relationship between their electricity bill and the cheaper electrons being generated by a solar array located many kilometres away from their home or business. But if they have a solar array on their roof, and can see the positive impact it makes every month? Well, now you have someone who might advocate for solar when the conversation comes up next \u2014 and push back against bogus claims about it from fossil-fueled politicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rooftop solar is inefficient and expensive compared to to utility-scale renewable energy. Here’s why progressive politicians should aggressively subsidize it \u2014 and other consumer-facing clean technologies \u2014 anyways. <\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s true that subsidies for rooftop solar arrays, electric vehicles, and heat pumps aren\u2019t the most cost-effective way to deliver emissions reductions. But if there\u2019s one lesson progressive politicians should take to heart from the last decade it\u2019s that the durability of their climate policies is more important \u2014 way,\u00a0way\u00a0more important \u2014 than their economic efficiency. They have to constantly be expanding the universe of people who have personally benefited from said policies, not just appealing to the tiny handful of environmental economists in the country. At this point, the cost of the emissions reductions is far less important than the cost of failing to deliver them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is where the Carney government should be focusing its efforts. In addition to strengthening the industrial carbon price, it has to create a connection for Canadians between climate policy and their own self-interest. By stimulating and supporting demand for clean technologies that sit on people\u2019s rooftops or in their driveways, the federal Liberals can create a larger constituency for climate policy than they ever did with the carbon tax \u2014 rebates and all. That constituency will cut across rigid partisan lines, and its existence will make it more difficult for any future government to roll back the policies.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t guarantee the survival of climate-friendly policies, if only because the antipathy towards them among Conservatives is so high right now. But at least it gives them a fighting chance \u2014 and, more importantly, a community of self-interested voters that will actually fight for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From\u00a0China and\u00a0India to\u00a0Europe and\u00a0Africa, solar power is in the process of radically transforming the global energy system. It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-186111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}