If California’s three largest utilities are owned by investors who expect a return (Sacrificial Land, HCN 4/15/13), then we need to devise a way to buy out or replace those investors with public-owned cooperatives. Putting solar panels on rooftops in our cities seems more practical than transporting electricity from remote areas via power lines. I live in the desert in Arizona, and I would appreciate solar collectors that shade parking lots a lot more than those that destroy wilderness. Germany is a leader in this field, and, from what I have seen, their collectors are in the cities close to where they need the electricity. The U.S. needs to find a way to follow suit.
Robert Luce
Sierra Vista, Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Put the public before profits.
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