Tell Gov. Newsom: Don't penalize people for putting solar panels on their roof
“To Gov. Newsom and the CA Public Utilities Commission:
I am opposed to the CPUC’s proposal to make it more expensive for people to put solar panels on their roofs.
Consumers should not be penalized in any way for making solar at their homes, schools, businesses and houses of worship. California should do more to promote local solar, not less. People need relief from high energy bills, blackouts and air pollution.
Making rooftop solar and batteries more expensive for everyone, especially middle and working class people, makes no sense. It’s the wrong direction for California. Please step in, protect the public interest, promote more rooftop solar for more people, not less.
[CPUC Docket #: R.20-08-020]“
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) just proposed charging solar users an average of $57 per month, nearly $700 per year, simply for putting solar panels on their roof.
This, and the other components of the CPUC’s proposal, are a near-carbon copy of what PG&E and the other investor-owned utilities have pushed for months. If Gov. Newsom doesn’t step in, these changes will be finalized by January 27th and go into effect this spring.
1) $57 per month solar penalty fee for putting solar panels on the roof. The more solar panels, the larger the fee. This includes apartment buildings, new homes built with solar per the state mandate, and solar-powered batteries. The fee would be the largest in the U.S.A.
2) 80% cut to the credit solar users get for sharing surplus solar energy with the grid. The credit would drop from an average of twenty-five cents per kilowatt hour to about five cents. This cut happens immediately; we predict it will end the solar market overnight.
3) Rollback of protections for existing solar users. Existing solar users are currently protected from changes to net metering rules for 20 years from the date their system turned on. The CPUC is now proposing to reduce that protection to 15 years, and eliminate the protection altogether if you accept their battery rebate.
This is a utility profit grab intended to kill rooftop solar just as it is taking off in middle and working class communities.
The CPUC’s proposal is a terrible deal for all working and middle class people regardless of income level. The CPUC claims that their proposal helps low-income people afford solar by exempting them from the solar penalty fee while providing a subsidy of $15 a month for ten years. But we ran the numbers and it doesn’t pencil out. Solar would still be more expensive for low-income people than the status quo.
Governor Newsom has not yet taken a stand
We need your help to ensure he steps and and stops this disastrous proposal by the CPUC.
Let's stop the Utility Profit Grab. Please join us in speaking out.
