The show-me state’s solar industry may be set back by a recent Cole County Circuit Court ruling from Judge Daniel Green.

The judge ruled against 2008’s Proposition C, which created $2 per-watt rebates for homeowners to install solar.

Green ruled in favor of an argument by the Missouri Retailers Association that the rebate system unfairly takes money from Missouri utility Ameren and its customers, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ameren and some other utilities in the state have sued the state’s Public Service Commission over how it’s implementing the ballot initiative.

The initiative was popular with voters.

“When we passed Prop C, there was no organized opposition at the time,” said Carla Klein, clean energy organizer for Renewable Missouri, an advocacy organization. Voters passed the ballot initiative with a 66 percent majority, she said.

The court action could be devastating to the solar industry in the state, according to Klein. If the solar rebates are dropped, solar installers would find themselves out of jobs even as the state struggles to overcome the recession.

However, the battle isn’t over yet.

“The Public Service Commission announced they will appeal the ruling. The Attorney General’s office also said he can intervene,” Klein said. Renewable Missouri also is weighing its options related to the suit.

“The original suit was opposing Proposition C and geographic sourcing,” Klein said.

The geographic sourcing meant that renewable energy had to be produced within Missouri to qualify for credit under the state’s renewable energy standard requirements and to help improve air quality within the state.

“We wanted to see benefit more locally,” she said. “In the original case files, there was no mention of the solar rebate.”

But then the court case took a surprising turn, and it was suddenly included in the ruling. The organization’s lawyer now is looking into the legality of adding such a clause in the lawsuit.

One of the reasons Ameren has opposed implementation of the proposition is because it wants to build a nuclear power plant, according to Klein.

“They want to build a stronger case to build a nuclear power plant,” she said.

The company already has made a request to the commission to suspend rebate payments on systems it had not yet approved.

But the commission's general counsel Steven Reed has said the rebate program should remain in place during appeal, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It may ultimately be decided in State Supreme Court.

Image courtesy of Renewable Missouri.