State Supreme Court grants review of lawsuit against NEM3 rooftop solar decision
This week, the State Supreme Court granted review of the lawsuit the lawsuit appealing the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)’s December 2022 “NEM3” decision. The lawsuit called for the CPUC’s decision to be overturned on the grounds that the CPUC’s decision violates both the law and their own rules. This comes after the State Court of Appeal in San Francisco…
Why is NRDC pushing a big Utility Tax?
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is one of the country’s largest environmental groups. For decades, NRDC has worked to convince California politicians to side with utilities and energy companies—from enabling the Enron debacle, to undermining rooftop solar, to promoting the largest Utility Tax in the country. NRDC’s co-founder became the leader of one of the country’s largest utilities. We…
The utilities and allies spent more than $100 million influencing politicians and nonprofits
Sometimes it is hard to understand how a convicted criminal like PG&E continues to get their way with California lawmakers. How the utilities get away with rate hike after rate hike. Sneaking hidden taxes into legislation in the middle of the night. Landing body blow after body blow on the state’s most popular clean energy solution—rooftop solar. The answer is…
Legislators introduce bills to get rooftop solar growing again
Rooftop solar is on the ropes in California because of a string of reckless decisions made by the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) at the behest of the utilities. Thankfully, a group of state legislators have proposed a series of bills to fix the situation and get rooftop solar growing again. We have a lot of work to do to…
Town Halls! Phone calls! Letters! Wow! How your actions have made a difference
Defending rooftop solar from the utilities and their government enablers is a bit of a roller coaster ride. Over the last few years, we’ve learned some important lessons on how to beat back the utilities, and we’ve had some important wins that have kept rooftop solar alive in California. We are publishing these lessons so that our shared Alliance can…
CPUC blocks rooftop solar for farms, schools, and many renters. Will state lawmakers overrule them?
For years, the utilities have tried and failed to block homeowners from making and using their own solar energy. We’ve stopped them every time. But last month, the utilities succeeded in blocking solar rights for schools, farmers, and many renters. This, despite overwhelming opposition from renters’ advocates, affordable housing organizations, school districts, farmers, and the general public. At this point,…
Meeting face-to-face with your state legislators is a powerful way to defend your solar rights
This fall, many state Assemblymembers and Senators are going to be holding local Town Hall meetings, open houses, and other “meet and greet” events for constituents like you. We encourage you to sign up and attend these events and ask them to do more to repeal the Utility Tax, and to keep rooftop solar growing. To be clear, everything you…
State agency proposal threatens consumer warranties for solar and batteries
The state Contractor Licensing Board (CSLB) has proposed a utility-backed proposal that could threaten the warranties on many people’s solar and battery systems. Overall, their proposal would make it more difficult and expensive for consumers to install and repair solar-powered batteries. What is being proposed The Contractors State Licensing Board (CSLB) has proposed prohibiting licensed solar contractors from doing the…
Six tips for buying a solar-powered battery
Thinking of getting a solar-powered battery for your home or business to protect you from the next power outage? Here’s six tips to help you figure it all out. For deeper dives: Solar Rights Alliance: Solar-Powered Batteries Webinar The Energy Show’s podcast: Which Batteries Are Best For Your Home? Solar-powered batteries can let you keep — and use — all…
Thanks to you, more than 200 cities are cutting solar red tape
Over the past year, thousands of solar users successfully pushed their local governments to streamline their solar permitting process, helping to make it faster and easier for their neighbors to go solar. See if your city or county has taken the first step. If you don’t see them on the map you can use these resources to nudge them to do so….