Electronics360: "Solar Power Fights an Ugly War for Survival"

Ah yes...the evil fossil fuel companies. Damn those guys. Of course, they make sure that everyone has a source of reliable power, regardless of sun or wind. They also have to deal with the damage that solar can do to the grid through voltage spikes, which costs everyone money. And of course they should have to pay retail rates for power, just like your grocery store does if you take your home grown produce in and demand they buy it.
I expect a little more depth and honesty in the stories I read from this source, instead of simple minded propaganda,.

I place the propaganda charge at your door.

I can accept a discussion on the retail/wholesale issue, but not as much on a "cost to the utility" issue. If I have solar panels on my roof, the utility pays exactly the same amount to run a wire to my house as it does to my neighbor who doesn't have solar. In fact it is the SAME wire. The utilities are now instituting extra fees on solar customers. I have yet to hear an honest argument to justify it. What needs to happen is to take the system's capital costs out of the rate structure, using that to cover just the cost of producing and transmitting electricity. Capital costs should be completely covered by the fixed monthly charge divided evenly among ALL customers.

Of course it would be nice too, if the actual cost of the fossil fuel industries, borne by the public i.e. environmental degradation, pollution, health impacts and more, were reflected in the price charged the consumer instead of being hidden behind obscure government subsidies. Then customers would have a truly factual basis on which to choose their method of producing and using energy.

Biggest cost is for maintaining excess generating capacity.

The cost to keep idle generators on-line so they can instantly pick up the load when the sun goes behind a cloud or the wind dies down is not trivial. The cost of this excess capacity is a subsidy directly paid by other customers to the solar/wind generating customers.

Explain to me why I should be paying part of your power bill again?