No, I’m not kidding. Truly, idiocy has no bounds.
In Spain, they appear to have actually done this, with fines up to 30 million Euros for non compliance.
The stupid, it sunburns. Air will be next. Breath tax.
From MISH’S Global Economic Trend Analysis:
link to Google translated article: El Pais, Spain Privatizes The Sun
If you get caught collecting photons of sunlight for your own use, you can be fined as much as 30 million euros.
If you were thinking the best energy option was to buy some solar panels that were down 80% in price, you can forget about it.
…
“The Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF), which brings together some 300 companies representing 85% of the industry, ensures that, implemented these changes, it would be more expensive solar consumption resorting to conventional supply. “It prevents the savings to consumers and paralyzes the entry of new competition in the electricity market,” contemplate. ”
Source: http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/07/spain-levies-consumption-tax-on-sunlight.html
h/t to OSSqss
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Alan says: “Why not just eliminate the subsidies in the first place?” Yep, that was the first step. Try this (google translate):
http://tiny.cc/3billionCuts
Lubos Motl says:
July 26, 2013 at 10:38 pm
The plan surely sounds funny but you don’t seem to understand that it’s mainly a clever way to get some subsidies paid to the solar barons back from them. One simply has to be creative to undo such sins of the past.
I fail to see how walloping the enterprising consumer with a tax will claw back some of the ill thought out renewables subsidies, especially considering that the very same tax payers are on the hook for the subsidies in the first place. Oh no, this looks merely like a scheme for figuring out how to finance the subsidies. It is money made to run in unproductive circles.
And there is no use in trying to read in Spanish the explanation. It will be like my Taiwanese friend Hersong Chen telling me how he would read the official mainland Chinese newspapers and could read the words, but still never understood what it all meant.
Government by Laurel and Hardy.
“Here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.”
Seem’s a lot of you blokes are behind the curve when it comes to figuring out how the ‘Political’ game is played the world over, including the USA. Obviously Spain is completely in the Klart financially, and the Green money making revolution has been demonstrated to be a Bust. Now no politician is ever going to come out and openly admit they were wrong, so faced with promises made in pre economic crapper days, of 25 years of subsidy for Solar, they have to find a way of backtracking ? This Tax on solar seems like a perfect solution for their woes, and may result in increasing numbers of punters disconnecting their 2Kw roof systems, and thereby lessening the load of subsidy. It may even have an effect upon the Industrial Scale solar farms ?
The net effect is one where the politicians are able to kill off subsidy without actually having to admit to that being the Intent, in short, a politicians wet dream.
This is probably the manner in which the AGW Scam will end worldwide, and for those of you who imagine the perp’s being dragged on hurdles through the streets, or being tarred and feathered, might I suggest you go back to reading your Patriot Mythology stories 🙂
Individual liberties protected in the Constitution and Bill of Rights say that any power not specifically given to Congress and the President is reserved to the people and to the states. The ninth and tenth amendments preserve all individual liberties which were not specifically named in the other amendments. Therefore, under the ninth and tenth amendments, the people retain the right not to be forced to purchase state run medical plans, and we retain the right not to be forced to purchase expensive electricity from worthless wind turbines and solar panels.
But “human rights” are the opposites of civil liberties, and require the involuntary participation of all citizens in these programs. When any one tells you you have a “human right” to renewable energy, state education, and state healthcare, this is simply terminology for involuntary participation. That is why the private use of solar panels is being fined for up to a million euros, because where purchase where energy is a “human right,” this removes voluntary purchase of energy outside of that provided by the grid from the renewables. Go check you Green Mythology.
ref: “Human-rightism is an ideology that has nothing in common with practical issues of the individual freedom and of free political discourse. It is about entitlements. Classical liberals and libertarians do not emphasize enough that the rights interpreted in this way are against freedom and the rational functioning of society.
Human rights are in fact a revolutionary denial of civil rights.” ~Klaus Vaclav
“Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun”
And now Spanish bureaucrats.
Have I woken up in some mad alternate universe run by insane bureaucrats?
Quelgeek says:
July 27, 2013 at 5:29 am
I can’t seem to find any original Spanish source for this story.
http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/23/inenglish/1374591905_024635.html?rel=rosEP
From the El Pais link: http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/23/inenglish/1374591905_024635.html?rel=rosEP
“Right now, it is possible to generate energy privately in Spain as long as it is used immediately – known as instantaneous self-consumption. The latest legislation on this option dates from 2011. Nobody did it before this because it wasn’t worth it financially. But the cost of photovoltaic equipment has dropped as much as 80 percent in the last five years, while electricity bills have kept rising, making self-sufficiency an attractive option in these times of crisis. Cow farms use it, supermarkets use it, and even the odd private consumer uses it. Excess energy may not be stored in batteries as that is prohibited. When there is no sun or wind, consumers have to use the regular service and pay the bill.”
Does this mean inexpensive solar powered trickle chargers for cars will be taxed? What about boat owners who use wind generators & solar panels when at sea or in harbour, to keep their house batteries fully charged? The Spanish government is bonkers. One wonders if they are aware that a camel is a committee designed horse?
Cordially,
Perry
It brings to mind the phrase Daylight robbery
“And there is no use in trying to read in Spanish the explanation. It will be like my Taiwanese friend Hersong Chen telling me how he would read the official mainland Chinese newspapers and could read the words, but still never understood what it all meant.”
http://translate.google.com/m/translate
Does this new tax on solar panels also apply to 12/24 Volt home systems?
“This is all part of the Agenda 21 theme. Maryland has a ‘rain tax’. As government continues to get bigger, more intrusive, the statists will think of all sorts of ways to steal all the wealth from the private and control every aspect of our lives.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/11/heres-whats-included-in-marylands-controversial-rain-tax-its-exactly-what-it-sounds-like/”
Could be Agenda 21 motivated. Drive people out of private property with regulation, taxes and fines. Now wonder they want to take away your guns?
““Excess energy may not be stored in batteries as that is prohibited. When there is no sun or wind, consumers have to use the regular service and pay the bill.”
which IMHO is what really makes this a let-them-eat-cake kind of situation. The article doesn’t mention if households are allowed to use diesel or human-powered generators.”
What if you have electric car in your garage? And store excess energy there?
Well, first of all the EL PAÍS newspaper you cited is from Costa Rica. The true opinion of the spanish EL PAÍS (one of the leader papers in Europe) is not exactly the same (cf: http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/12/opinion/1373654718_280707.html; sorry, it’s in spanish). In any case, the electricity consumption in private homes coming from solar or wind small production is marginal in Spain. Why? Because of the real high prices of the installation, which are not interesting in economical way until 15 or 20 years (It’s the normal problem with the solar pannels and the accumulators of energy, I know the question very well, I have one small solar installation and it’s not really interestring, even in the Sunny Center of Spain). With the new regulation (coming from the rightist PP party, which dominates the spanish politics by absolute majority in the Parliament), this period of interesting self-consumption will be more tan 25 years. Of course, the new Law is worse; but worse than bad means… bad. On the other hand, it’s true that the price of eletricity on Spain is between the most expensive in Europe, but not really far from what you have to pay in Germany, France, Italy or UK (more expensive than in USA or Canada). In any case, the electricity companies are everywhere -in USA too- really powerful and the governments are following their demands easily. But in Spain these companies don’t agree the new regulations. So, nobody is happy… except the government; but it seems that the Ministry of Energy is against the Ministry of Economy. So?
The AGW believers, charlatans, hustlers and profiteers are going to get a lesson about who is really in charge and what their motives are.
Watching them eat their own is so much fun.
@ur momisugly Zeke says:
July 27, 2013 at 1:19 pm
Zeke you are really on to something.
It would be nice to read more of what you are thinking.
Actually there is a new book on the AGW fallacy written by Bob Carter; its meant for the lay person and is called “Taxing Air”. Published by Kelpie Press-glrmc42@gmail.com
Is there an exemption for solar panels on government buildings, signs and research equipment?
Did the government provide exemption to power companies so they don’t have to pay fair-use for lines going over people’s homes?
Does it include direct solar water heating?
Is it worded so that you are breaking the law if you have south facing windows in the winter?
Sorry to be vulgar, but unless politicians get a good reaming this sort of monkey business will go on.
They hand out a subsidy, which by law they cannot stop, so they add on a tax to cancel the subsidy. Genius. We should do that in the UK as well. Subsidising people to put solar panels on their roofs is criminal, it reverses the tax system by making the poor who cannot afford solar panels subsidise the rich who can afford solar panels.
Well done Spain. I hope we do the same in the UK, and also apply it to windmill owners as well.
Don’t laugh, this will be the way of all Ponzi scheme, vote buying, with kick-the-can, public finance.
The one world gov’t told the regional Gov’ts to bind the Solar electricity payouts with a contract. This was due to the extreme cost of the systems and get the lead sheep to start jumping the fence. Same as now with electric cars). Now panels are dirt cheap and a complete no-brainer.
Debts from complete idiocy or not; Gov’ts do what they typically do. Give with one hand and take with another.
They won’t tax stupidity.
“Their rates are the highest in Europe, despite being leaders in windmills.”
You say that as if they two should be mutually exclusive instead of explanatory. 😉
If they can’t end the meaningless expensive subsidies to solar- and wind-power producers, thanks to the socialists mindless binding contract with this industry, it makes sence that they instead tax them to Bankruptcy?
I sense a revolution stirring.