Apart from everything else, the PV FIT is also a subsidy for the homeowning middle classes and small businesses. And even though most of the modules themselves apparently come from China these days, the installation is performed by numerous local small businesses throughout the country = thousands of jobs.

So the unintended consequence of the PV FIT is that it has bred a pretty broad constituency with an interest in its continuation.

This may not have been the deciding factor, but I expect no one in the state governments is actually unhappy about how this vote turned out.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman