by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)
The House Insurance and Commerce committee spent as much time debating a controversial issue as Senators did with the governor’s education bill on Wednesday (Feb. 22).
HB1370 by Rep. Lanny Fite, R-Benton, pitted electric utilities against the solar industry in a measure called the “Cost-Shifting Prevention Act of 2023.” Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, is the Senate co-sponsor.
Cost-shifting in any industry is the concern that one group of payers is underwriting the costs of a group not paying their fair share. In this instance, electric utilities claim that businesses and individuals with solar arrays are being paid for their additional power at an amount too high to cover the utilities’ costs.
