The debate over rooftop solar in California appears to be endlessly recurring.
The most recent dispute was sparked by proposed legislation aimed at cutting back the incentives long-term solar customers enjoy from supplying additional power to the electrical grid. Although the bill has not been heard yet, it has quickly attracted significant backing as well as intense criticism.
The
legislation
This adjustment would affect both business and home owners who had solar installations completed prior to April 2023. The change shortens the duration for receiving specific incentives from two decades to just ten years and aligns their residual rates with those of more recent solar adopters.
State Assemblymember Lisa Calderon from Whittier proposed the bill, stating that it aims to decrease energy expenses for non-solar consumers by reforming imbalanced incentives for residential solar panels.
Calderon and others contend that previous agreements providing subsidies for solar power excessively reward consumers, consequently transferring the expenses associated with sustaining the electrical grid — utilized by both solar and non-solar customers alike — to those who do not have such installations.
“This outdated formula shifted
$8.5 billion
To non-solar customers’ bills just last year, residents in my district paid an average of $230 annually due to these solar subsidies,” Calderon stated in a KQED interview.
Calderon pointed out that the California Public Utilities Commission had previously decreased incentives for new solar panel setups in 2023.
“It’s time to address the needs of ourlegacycustomers as well,”she stated.
The legislation echoes
research
By the state’s consumer-centric Public Advocates Office, which proposed reducing the old solar reimbursement rates to help lower the increasing cost of electricity within the state.
Severin Borenstein, an energy economist from UC Berkeley, concurs with the fundamental concept of the bill.
“I believe numerous lawmakers have come to understand that one reason behind the soaring electricity costs is the transfer of expenses from solar panel owners to other utility bill payers, specifically affecting those who installed solar systems prior to April 2023,” Borenstein stated.
The day marked when the California Public Utilities Commission reduced the payments new solar customers received for feeding excess electricity from their panels back into the grid, leading to a sharp decline in residential solar panel installations.
“I believe that for many customers whose systems have been operational for at least ten years, they have saved significantly more than the original expense of the system,” Borenstein stated.
The investor-owned utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas &Electric, alongside the environmental organization Natural Resources Defense Council and even the Utility Reform Network—a group that frequently disagrees with major utility companies—concur with these points. Nevertheless, each of them has not yet formally supported Calderon’s bill.
Supporters of rooftop solar installations are opposing the new plan, which could overturn agreements made several years back between homeowners, educational institutions, and companies with the aim of encouraging more people in California to adopt solar energy solutions.
These are customers who took the appropriate action following the state’s encouragement,” stated Brad Heavner, who leads the California Solar and Storage Association. “These customers deserve appreciation rather than punishment.
Heavner described the legislation as poor policy and highlighted that Calderon had been working for over
two decades
For Southern California Edison, which supports these modifications.
Reverend Ambrose Carroll, the founder of Green The Church—a group dedicated to equipping African American churches with solar power—also stands against this legislation.
“We think that AB 942 represents an overt and unparalleled effort to retrospectively alter more than 2 million rooftop and community solar contracts, which were made in good faith based on well-established state regulations prior to April 2023,” stated Carroll.
Carroll mentioned that affluent property owners aren’t the sole individuals who’ve set up solar panels, adding that the decrease in their utility bills might pose a significant financial challenge for certain residents.
“We’ve been working hard to ensure that middle-income individuals, as well as some lower-income people, have joined in and are benefiting from this,” Carroll stated, mentioning that altering the incentives seems akin to taking a step backward.
This legislation has the potential to impact around 2 million solar customers throughout California and is set for its initial hearing in the state legislature towards the end of this month.