美国国家公共电台 NPR--Calif. commission to decide whether to cut a key incentive for rooftop solar

Calif. commission to decide whether to cut a key incentive¹ for rooftop solar

Transcript²

California's public utilities commission will vote on whether to get rid of a program that allows homeowners with solar panels to sell their excess power back to the grid³.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The commission that regulates California's utilities decides today whether to cut a key incentive for rooftop solar. California's considered the bellwether⁴ for the nation's energy policy, and some environmentalists worry that this decision could make it harder to transition away from fossil fuels. Here's NPR's Julia Simon.

JULIA SIMON, BYLINE⁵: California decided⁶ decades ago that to get more solar energy, they needed to pay people for their solar power. If you end up with more solar power than you can use, you can sell that back to the grid. With the current pricing plan, the utility pays you for the power basically the same amount that you pay it. One of the people benefiting from this setup is music teacher Carolyn McDaniels in San Francisco.

CAROLYN MCDANIELS: How did it change my bill? Oh, my God. When you get a bill that says no payment necessary, that's how it changed my bill.

SIMON: The vote by the California Utilities Commission comes down to how much new solar customers will get in the future. Today, commissioners⁷ could cut those incentive payments.

BERNADETTE DEL CHIARO: It is a cliff. It's what you would do if you wanted to hurt something. You would slash⁸ it like that.

SIMON: Bernadette Del Chiaro runs the California Solar & Storage Association. She says the proposal immediately reduces average payments around 75%. She worries the incentive cut will mean people won't think solar panels are worth the investment. But Matt Baker⁹ of the California Public Advocates Office supports the proposal and says the current incentive structure is now out of place. He says it played its part to get California to around 1.5 million homes with solar.

MATT BAKER: We believe it worked. It worked really, really well.

SIMON: He says the new pricing mechanism¹⁰ will incentivize people to get big storage batteries along with solar, what he says California's grid needs. But Del Chiaro says it will be hard to incentivize batteries if you're making solar more expensive. Ultimately, she thinks this incentive cut will threaten the growth of the largest solar market in America.

DEL CHIARO: We're supposed to set the pace and set the example.

SIMON: She says other states are watching California's vote today.

Julia Simon, NPR News.

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1 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

4 bellwether   

n.系铃的公羊，前导，领导者，群众的首领

参考例句：

• University campuses are often the bellwether of change.大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
• For decades the company was the bellwether of the British economy.几十年来，这家公司一直是英国经济的晴雨表。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

9 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

10 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。