We bet most people would agree that these three statements are true:
1) You put solar panels on your roof to make your own electricity.
2) When you make your own electricity, you might buy less electricity from the utility company.
3) If you buy less electricity from the utility, you do not owe them anything for lost sales.
You are not obligated to buy anything from the utilities. The utilities want to change that.
These principles, sometimes called “self-consumption,” are common-sense, true, and based on longstanding principles. In the early 1900s, the government granted private utility companies like PG&E a monopoly over the electric grid. They did this in order to prevent ugly and duplicative poles and wires. But the monopoly protections for utilities does not mean you have to buy the utilities’ electricity.
Yet, through a massive disinformation campaign, California’s electric utilities have pushed the state to make you pay the utility whether or not you use their service. This has undermined your ability to make your own energy from the sun on your property.
We have stopped some of the worst proposals, but this is an ongoing battle, with very important stakes. The good news is that you have a legal right to make energy from the sun without unreasonable interference from the utility or the government. A 2015 scholarly article published in the Energy Law Journal outlines these legal rights in detail.
In light of the utilities’ relentless attacks on our solar rights, we think current and future solar consumers should understand these fundamental rights. Not everyone has time to read a 23-page legal paper, so we summarized it here for you.
It all goes back to the discovery of fire.
When early humans discovered how to harness fire, one member of the tribe played the role of “fire-keeper”. The fire-keeper’s job was to make sure the fire stayed lit for the tribe.
Humans eventually discovered ways to start a fire locally, including flint, bow-drills, and lenses. These technologies reduced the need for a centralized fire-keeper.
Electricity serves the same purpose as fire once did.
The story of electricity is similar to the story of fire.
At first, we needed centralized utilities to act like the ancient fire-keepers.
But now people can make some or a lot of their electricity with solar panels. Some can even store the sun’s power in a battery to use when it’s dark outside.
Most people with solar panels still buy some power from the utility, but it’s usually less after they go solar.
Making your own electricity without interference is a basic property right.
Common law allows you to do what you want on your property as long as it doesn’t harm other people. This idea goes back centuries, long before the United States even existed.
The government is allowed to put reasonable restrictions on what you do on your property. The restrictions are designed to protect your health, the health of your neighbors, or to keep you from being a nuisance to your community. That’s why you can’t dump sewage on your driveway or build a house that will fall down during a minor earthquake.
However, the government’s power is limited. For example, although you may be required to hook up to the public water system to dispose of your sewage, you could opt to install a composting toilet instead. Or, you may have to hook up to the local public water utility, but you are not required to drink that water. You are free to collect rainwater on your property or buy it from your local grocery store.
Making your own electricity is the same way. You may be required to at least have a hook-up to the electric grid per local zoning laws, but you are not obligated to buy electricity from the utility. With solar panels, you can generate your own electricity and use it on-site, much like collecting rainwater or growing your own vegetables.
U.S. laws support your right to make energy.
While the U.S. Constitution doesn’t specifically mention electricity, your solar rights stem from your basic property rights that are constitutionally protected. That means if the utility company or government tries to interfere with your “self-generation” rights, it can be challenged under the “takings clause” of the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That section prohibits the government from taking your property from you without “just compensation.”
Moreover, many federal and state laws explicitly support your right to make energy from the sun. California’s Solar Rights Act, passed in 1978, gives you a basic right to access sunlight. It also restricts local governments and HOAs from blocking solar panels or making them too expensive to install.
At the federal level, a 1978 law called PURPA gave solar customers certain protections. PURPA doesn’t explicitly mention the right to self-generate, but the case law that has developed over the last 45 years under PURPA strongly suggests that the right to self-generate is implied in that law.
The utilities are required to serve you reliable electricity. You are not required to buy it.
For more than a century, private utilities have been given an exclusive monopoly over the delivery and sale of electricity over poles and wires. In exchange, they are required to provide you with reliable electricity that is reasonably priced. But nothing in this deal requires you to buy their electricity.
You may control how much electricity you buy from the power company, either by reducing your electricity use, or by making your own energy with solar panels. Your only obligation is to pay for the electricity you do use from the grid, if any.
Utilities want to make you pay them, even when you don't use their service. They invented a lie to convince policy makers to let them do that.
On average, California solar consumers pay between $80 and $160 per month for the energy they use from the grid. That more than covers the utilities’ cost to provide that electricity.
But utilities, and groups like NRDC and TURN, claim solar users don’t pay their fair share of the grid. They have been using this lie to justify taxes and fees on solar consumers. The state’s energy regulator—California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)—has moved forward with some of these proposals. The public has been able to block other bad proposals.
In reality, these taxes have nothing to do with paying your fair share. You already pay your fair share and then some.
Their actual intention is to make you pay the utility for the electricity you did NOT buy from the grid. Simply put, they are trying to force you to contribute to the utility company’s profits.
Defending the right to make energy from the sun is good for all Californians.
A recent analysis by energy economist Dr. Richard McCann found that California’s 2 million solar users saved all ratepayers $1.49 billion in 2024 alone.
Another study estimated that rooftop solar and batteries could reduce grid costs by $120 billion over the next 30 years. That saves each ratepayer $300 per year, whether or not they have solar panels.
It makes sense. California solar customers reduce the need for utilities to spend ratepayer money on poles and wires and other grid costs. That reduces overall costs for all ratepayers.
Keep making your own solar energy and know that your rights are protected. Solar is good for you, your family, and your neighbors.
