Of course, that would be the logical way to do things and to get rid of the evil gubbermint
But there is a small problem, checking with google solar, which approximates the numbers of hours you get enough sunlight to produce energy, it seems that the region has no more than 1500 hours of sunlight, basically 5 hours a day on average.
He has consumed 600 kwh in April, we might consider 800 during winter, that means he is taking close to 30 kwh a day from the grid.
Only this will cost him about 24k$ in powerwalls.
And with the extra solar panels he needs to load those batteries, you can pretty much understand why he hasn't done it.
Yes as the sun won't be available so much to cover their needs especially in winter season, there is no other choice if he doesn't want to buy an expensive generator which cost more + oil, although it's not a green energy but he can achieve the goal of self-sufficiency. However, not many options left and still connect to the grid and pay the taxes seems make sense till this point as maybe there is another thing to consider >>
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I did find this in the linked article though:
The provincial government did say it has commissioned a review of the electrical grid, which could lead to changes to the net-metering program.
...so they also probably realize how stupid this is.