The CPUC proposal would add a solar penalty fee of $ 57 per month for the average residential solar system. A $ 15 per month credit for the first 10 years would only partially offset the charge, but California would still have the highest solar penalty charge in the country.

To safeguard California Solar Coalition Statement on CPUC Net Metering Decision Proposal, “CPUC offered a giveaway to investor-owned utilities that would increase utility profits at the expense of energy consumers, family support jobs and California’s clean energy future. ”

Sacramento, California– Today, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) published a proposal for a decision on net metering, the policy that is responsible for growing solar in California by making the state’s most abundant renewable energy source affordable to consumers of all types.

The CPUC’s proposal would add a solar penalty fee of $ 57 per month for the average residential solar system. A $ 15 per month credit for the first 10 years would only partially offset the charge, but California would still have the highest solar penalty charge in the country. Low income taxpayers and business customers would not pay the monthly fee. In addition, the commission proposed reducing export credits to around 5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for all solar energy users, including schools and churches. This is an 80% reduction from the 20 to 30 cents per kWh credited today for residential customers. In addition, the commission reduced the protections for existing solar customers from the previously established 20-year vested interests to 15 years.

The Save CA Solar coalition, which includes more than 600 diverse organizations, today issued the following statement on the proposed decision by the CPUC:

Despite the overwhelming popularity rooftop solar power in California and more than 120,000 public comments submitted in support of net metering, the CPUC offered a giveaway to investor-owned utilities that would increase utility profits at the expense of energy consumers, supportive family jobs and California’s clean energy future.

Solar advocates across the state are disappointed that the CPUC has allowed itself to take a stranglehold on utility profits by offering the highest solar penalties in the country and drastically reducing the credit that consumers use. solar energy receive for selling the excess energy they produce to their neighbors.

The fight is not over for supporters of solar energy. Consumers, affordable housing advocates, religious leaders, environmentalists, environmental advocates, climate activists, solar energy workers and small businesses will continue to call on the CPUC and Governor Newsom to end the monopoly of utility profits and pursue solar growth in California.

The CPUC will hold a final vote on the future of net metering after a 25-day comment period on the proposed decision and alternative proposals. The proposed changes to net metering would come into effect this spring.

Members of the Save California Solar coalition weighed in on the decision proposed by the CPUC:

“California is on the path to 100% renewable energy, and that path requires a sustained commitment to the growth of rooftop solar power. Instead, the CPUC’s proposal is tantamount to tying cement blocks to our ankles as we rush away from fossil fuels. State regulators calculate that to achieve 100% clean energy, California needs at least 28 gigawatts (GW) of solar power at the customer’s premises by 2045; it is almost three times more than today. The momentum that rooftop solar power has now would help us achieve our goal – but removing net metering is removing that momentum. The CPUC must prioritize California’s climate change efforts ahead of the financial interests of large utilities. ”

• Laura Deehan, director of state at the Environment California Research & Policy Center.

“It’s a story as old as this country: new technology is developed, programs and policies are proposed to help consumers embrace the technology and reduce costs over time, and just as people black and brown communities are starting to be able to afford and benefit from the technology – programs and policies are often cut. This is exactly what the CPUC did in its proposed decision. By accepting the grabbing of utility profits, the CPUC would take California back to a time when solar power was a luxury for the wealthy and out of reach for our communities.

• Pastor Pastor William D. Smart, Jr., President and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California

“Our diverse grassroots coalition is disappointed with the decision proposed by the CPUC, but we are even more determined to continue the fight to ensure that California remains a solar state. In the coming weeks, solar supporters will creatively raise our voices online and in person so that Governor Newsom understands just how unpopular the seizure of utility profits is among voters. ”

• Dave Rosenfeld, Director of the Solar Rights Alliance

“It’s a disaster for clean energy and jobs. With the proposal, California would abandon its long-standing position as a clean energy leader, threatening the jobs of tens of thousands of hard-working men and women who today provide clean, reliable energy to people. millions of consumers. Governor Newsom must clean up this mess and get California back on track as a solar leader. ”

• Bernadette Del Chiaro, Executive Director of the California Solar & Storage Association

“It’s really a debate between energy democracy and energy monopoly. Large utilities want to protect their control over energy delivery to protect their billions in profits. The environmental justice community wants energy equity where people are free to produce and distribute their own energy in a cleaner and more affordable way.

• Esperanza Vielma, Executive Director, Coalition for Environmental Justice for Water

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