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 get these bills to the finish line will be a heavy lift but one worth doing!
Before the CPUC gutted rooftop solar, it was growing fastest in middle and working class neighborhoods
In 2022, 62% of solar adopters were middle and working class households. This trend was growing before the CPUC’s reckless decision. (Source: Berkeley Lab, Solar Demographics Tool)
Rooftop solar is on the ropes because of reckless decisions by the CPUC
- Bowing to utility lobbying, the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) gutted the state’s net metering rules in 2022. Shortly after their first decision went into effect, the CPUC went further, putting rooftop solar almost entirely out of reach for most renters and all schools and farms.
- Consumer adoption of solar plummeted after the CPUC’s decisions went into effect. By the end of 2023, year-over-year sales were down 77-85% and 17,000 solar workers lost their jobs.
What's more, the train wreck doesn't seem to be finished
The state is now seriously considering charging all ratepayers a new Utility Tax of $30 per month or more. This tax, along with rates, will only go up over time.
A $30 per month Utility Tax will increase electricity bills on households that don’t buy much electricity from the utility. That ensnares millions of people who live in apartments, condos, and small homes—as well as solar users!
This is bad for consumers. It also turns the state's clean energy goals into a joke.
- Before the CPUC swung the hatchet, rooftop solar was growing fastest in middle and working class neighborhoods.
- Now, everyday people have fewer options to control skyrocketing utility bills. And renters, farmers, and schools are entirely out of luck.
- What’s more, the state itself says rooftop solar must triple in order to meet the state’s goal of getting 100% of its electricity from clean energy. That won’t happen unless rooftop solar gets back on track.
The "cost shift" is utility PR. Utility spending is out of control and regulators have been asleep at the switch. That is why electricity bills are so high.
- The utilities and the CPUC justify gutting rooftop solar by blaming rooftop solar for skyrocketing electricity rates (the so-called “cost shift”). That’s nonsense!
- Utility spending has risen by 500% over the last 25 year—much faster than the cost of household goods. (See the below chart)
- Yet, over the same time period, peak electricity use has been basically flat.
- 60% of utility spending is self-approved, meaning regulators don’t even scrutinize it.
How could this happen?
- Utilities make an 8-12% profit off all transmission & distribution (T&D) spending.
- They are incentivized to overspend. (Even the CPUC acknowledges this)
- Regulators have no say or have been asleep at the switch.
Sources:
Richard McCann: Historic SCE Retail Rate Components: 1998-2023, February 2024, (full presentation)
CA Public Utilities Commission: Utility Costs and Affordability of the Grid of the Future
The truth is, rooftop solar saves all ratepayers money
- In 2018, the CA Independent Systems Operator scaled back $2.6B of transmission and distribution because of rooftop solar and energy efficiency. Economists estimate that solar roofs save everyone an additional $3 billion every year in avoided generation costs.
- A 2021 in-depth analysis by Vibrant Clean Energy modeling found that scaling up both utility-scale renewables and rooftop solar could be $120 billion cheaper over 30 years than utility-scale alone.
- The Protect Our Communities Foundation has shown how rooftop solar and batteries could have eliminated or reduced the cost of several major T&D projects and saved ratepayers billions of dollars.
State legislators are pushing back to take charge and fix this mess
Thankfully, some state legislators are stepping into the breach. They are pushing back on the utilities and the CPUC, proposing a slew of bills to get rooftop solar growing again.
Here are the bills, organized by category
Prevent any more harm to rooftop solar
Get rooftop solar growing again for consumers
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- AB 2619 (Connolly) would ban solar taxes and require the CPUC to revise their net metering decision to align with the state’s actual clean energy goals.
- SB 1374 (Becker) would restore the right of renters, farmers, and schools to make and consume their own solar energy, a right that the state took away from these folks last year.
- SB 1190 (Laird) would prevent mobile home park owners from blocking rooftop solar on homes in their parks.
Reduce the influence that utilities have over the government
“Virtual Power Plants” and solar as the “Official State Energy”
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- SB 1305 (Stern) would require utilities to treat their customers with both solar and batteries as a “Virtual Power Plant”, and purchase the electricity from them in the same way they would a solar farm in the desert. This has the potential to reduce the need for giant solar farms and their expensive long-distance power lines. This could save ratepayers as much as $120 billion over the next thirty years.
- AB 3118 (Wallis) would make solar the “official state energy” of California, the same way the poppy is our state flower.