Former Energy Secretary Steven Chu called on utility companies to begin leasing solar systems to homeowners, reports the SF Chronicle.
Chu served as Energy Secretary during the first administration, and is now a professor at Stanford University.
He says unless utility companies change their business model, they will be going out of business.
“I’ve been talking with them about it for about a year. And I did not invent this. It was invented by the Bell Telephone system. Remember? They owned the phone. They maintained the phone. You paid for phone service,” said Chu.
“The details have to be worked out. But the main thing is you want the distribution companies to have a new growth industry. Otherwise, what’s going to happen is like the Internet transforming the entertainment and publishing businesses.”
You can read more about Chu’s thoughts in the SF Chronicle.
