Which Pocket is the Money Coming From?

The City of Phoenix now has an agreement with APS that streamlines the process of selling solar generated electricity to the utility. Apparently this has helped to spur along more solar projects. These are touted as investments with positive effects on the city's taxpayers.

"We're breaking new ground," Bristo said. "We're being innovative and creative. The bottom line is we're saving money and energy for the taxpayer and user. And we're generating jobs."

Solar costs a fair bit more than conventional power, so where did the money come from?

A $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is funding much of the work.

These would appear to be negative effects on federal taxpayers. Since the city's taxpayers are also the federal taxpayers, I'm not sure how the city's residents come out ahead.