Sullivan City Council researching net-metering policies

•May 18, 2016•

By Ariana Cherry
For the News Progress

Recently, resident Mike Fowler approached the Sullivan City Council about installing solar power in his home. Fowler has never had solar energy anywhere else, but he does know it can save money.

“I have a niece and nephew-in-aw in the St. Louis area who installed a solar system two years ago, 2014, and I spoke with them, and they are very happy with their system and the amount of money they are saving on their electric bill,” he commented. “ During the summer months when the sun is shining bright on their solar panels and their air-conditioning is running full force, they get electric bills of three to six dollars per month,” he added.

Fowler is no stranger to how utilities work. He does, after all, have a background in the electrical industry. “I graduated from Lake Land Community College with an associates in electronics before becoming a journeyman electrician after serving a four-year IBEW apprenticeship. If you go back even further, I worked at the Sullivan electric plant my senior year in high school, mopping floors, and then I’d go for in for the maintenance crew on day shift and help the meter readers on second shift,” he said.

Fowler realizes that a few years have passed since he last spent time in the industry.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.