By Michael Morton

Commentary published in the Rocky Mountain News 

Denver suburbs penalize solar investors.

Residents investing in a typical 4-kilowatt solar system in cities around Denver must pay $600 to $1,500 for permit-related fees. Those costs are equal to from one to 2 1/2 years of the investor's energy savings. Denver residents, installing the same size system, pay a total of about $100, or less than 3 months worth of energy savings.

Permit-related fees include zoning and building department fees and a use tax. City department staffs are highly qualified and provide valuable services for which they must be paid. Use taxes are equally important in that these taxes are used to pay municipality infrastructure expenses. If a proposed project will increase the demand on a city's infrastructure, use taxes should apply.

Environmental, security and health-related costs are part of the infrastructure costs of city, state and federal governments and are paid for by taxes. Solar energy investments, by reducing the pollution and greenhouse gases that are associated with non-renewable fossil fuel-generated electricity, will lower city, state and federal infrastructure expenses....

Read full commentary: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/05/excessive-suburban-fees-unwisely-discourage-solar-/