State officials are proposing to tax you for putting solar panels on your roof. It's another profit grab for the utilities.
Attend a Don't Tax the Sun Rally on June 2nd in Los Angeles or San Francisco!
Despite clear public opposition to a Solar Tax and to making solar unaffordable, the CPUC announced on May 9th that they are still considering a Solar Tax of between $300 to $600 per year for the average solar user, while also slashing the credit for the solar energy sent back to the grid.
This is like taxing people who hang-dry their clothing instead of running the dryer.
Earlier this year, your voice helped to defeat the CPUC’s first Solar Tax. We need your voice again, as loud as ever:
We believe you have the right to make energy from the sun on your property without unreasonable interference by the utility.
The threat to solar
On December 13th, the CPUC proposed to charge consumers a solar tax of $57 per month on average – just for putting solar panels on their roof! This and the other components of the proposal are a near carbon-copy of that PG&E, So Cal Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric lobbied for.
The CPUC’s proposal would put solar out of reach for the working and middle class, just when it is taking off.
150,000 people have submitted an official public comment in favor of making rooftop solar more affordable, not less
Over 150,000 Californians have sent an official, written public comment against a Solar Tax and in favor of making rooftop solar more affordable, not less.
We hand-delivered many of these public comments in December, after forming a human billboard on the North Lawn of the State Capitol that spelled out the following message: “Gov: 100,000+ Say Stop Utility Profit Grab”.
Over 3,000 people have marched in the streets for rooftop solar
On January 13th, over three thousand solar workers, solar users, environmentalists and social justice advocates marched around the CPUC’s offices in LA and San Francisco.
Hundreds have packed CPUC meetings
Hundreds of people have called into CPUC meetings over the last few months to give public comment, often waiting for hours to make their voices heard. Over 85% of all the public comments have been against a Solar Tax and for making rooftop solar more affordable.
Thanks to the grassroots outcry, Gov. Newsom said the CPUC should revise their proposal
Faced with mounting questions from the public and the news media, Gov. Newsom said in late January that “changes need to be made” to the CPUC’s Solar Tax proposal.
Now, the CPUC says they are making revisions to their proposal.
But neither Gov. Newsom nor the CPUC have said exactly what changes they intend to support, or when they will make them.
The CPUC is digging in with a new Solar Tax proposal, while also spreading utility misinformation. Is Gov. Newsom going to provide the leadership we need?
Despite the CPUC’s claim that they are revising their original proposal with an open mind, they came back on May 9th with…another Solar Tax!
Meanwhile, high-ranking CPUC officials are still spreading utility propaganda about rooftop solar.
Take Action: Stop the Utility Profit Grab
It was a massive public outcry that stopped the Solar Tax the first time, and it will be a massive public outcry that will save rooftop solar once and for all. Please make your voice heard!
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