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AARP Doubles Down on their Confusion About Solar

The national association of senior citizens, AARP, recently doubled down on their confused position about rooftop solar. In doing so, AARP remains aligned with PG&E and the other California utilities’ efforts to double the cost of rooftop solar. This is unfortunate, and against the interests of senior citizens and all ratepayers suffering from blackouts and ever-increasing electricity bills. Background: AARP…

Inside SMUD’s decision to gut rooftop solar

SMUD significantly cut the credit solar users receive for sharing their extra energy with the community. It will affect new solar users starting March 1, 2022 and current solar users within one to ten years. It will make solar prohibitively expensive for working and middle class people in the Sacramento area. And it violates a longstanding principle to ensure a…

Top three ways SMUD grossly undervalues solar

Summary Even as power outages rip through the state, SMUD stands by their flawed study that grossly undervalues the benefits of rooftop solar. SMUD is using this study to justify changes that will discourage rooftop solar in Sacramento. At issue is net metering, a policy that allows solar users to share their extra solar energy with the community for a…

PG&E, SDG&E and SoCal Edison propose to double the cost of consumer solar

Summary On March 15th, California’s three investor-owned utilities submitted a joint proposal intended to pressure the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) into making consumer solar two times more expensive than it is today. The utilities’ proposal would put solar out of reach for most working and middle class people, just when recent studies show they make up nearly 50% of…

Utility bosses: If you make us look bad, there’s gonna be trouble

HGTV Property Brothers’ Jonathan Scott recently made his directorial debut in the documentary Power Trip. Power Trip follows Scott as he travels through the United States uncovering a deeply entrenched, powerful system that’s preventing Americans from powering their lives with solar.  Scott told the LA Times in a recent interview that at least one utility tried to pull his movie…

Rooftop solar is good for turtles and cactuses

This article by LA Times’ Sammy Roth highlights the tension between large-scale renewable energy and protecting open space in the California desert – and notes how rooftop solar can ameliorate this tension. The LA Times article cites two contrasting studies about how to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, which is the Biden Administration’s climate change goal: One study shows…

LA Times: Solar & batteries to the rescue!

This week’s LA Times reports that increasing the number of solar homes and businesses with battery backup could help avert massive power outages during next summer’s likely heat waves. Here’s seven take-homes from the article: 1) When rooftop solar is paired with a battery, the extra solar energy can get stored in the garage and used when the sun gooes…