CALSSA and allies have announced a goal of collecting 100,000 public comments in 30 days to deliver to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Governor Newsom before the upcoming Net Metering (NEM-3) decision in December. The CPUC will be reconsidering the credit rooftop solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce, and CALSSA is warning that the outcome could potentially gut California’s rooftop solar and storage market.
In July, CALSSA delivered the first 30,000 comments at an event in front of the CPUC headquarters in San Francisco. Reaching the 100,000 goal would break the record for the greatest number of public comments received by a state agency in history — previously set by solar advocates in 2015.
As California enters the homestretch in the NEM-3 proceeding, CALSSA implores everyone in the solar and storage industry and anyone who supports distributed clean energy to make their voice heard before the decision deadline. Currently 1.2 million consumers use net metering, including thousands of public schools and low-income apartment buildings. The policy is responsible for dramatically growing rooftop solar in California by making it more affordable for working- and middle-class households, which now represent nearly half the state’s solar market — by far the largest in the country.
Proposals submitted by California’s investor-owned utilities would gut the market for solar as well as solar-charged batteries by reducing the credit solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce by up to 80% and adding a $65 to $90 monthly solar penalty fee to their energy bills.
A bad NEM-3 decision would not only slow California’s clean energy progress at this critical moment in history and hurt working- and middle-class families and solar users, but also thousands of solar and storage workers in the state. Additionally, solar and storage has been instrumental in keeping the lights on for thousands of families and businesses during the state’s crippling blackouts. A bad NEM-3 decision could put this important technology out of reach for every day Californians.
“The California distributed solar and storage industry employs over 65,000 people. These workers have a clear stake in the outcome of the NEM-3 decision, and they must be given a voice,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of CALSSA. “Every person who is up on a roof, in a garage or out in a field installing solar and energy storage needs to make their voice heard right now. The governor and the CPUC are going to impact your job with this decision.”
People can sign the public comment here: https://bit.ly/NEMCampaign. Those wanting to get involved in the campaign can contact Carter Lavin at carter@calssa.org or visit www.savecaliforniasolar.org.
News item from CALSSA
Once again it’s the all powerful Corporate Shareholder who wants a guarantee of being 100 times wealthier than everyone else. We accept low, stagnant wages to subsidize corporate ruble-digit profits. I don’t believe for a moment that the existing deal is “sweet” as they state nor that they truly feel anything remotely like empathy for the people they pass on their profit losses by raising their prices. They don’t need to look for the middle class to subsidize the lower class. Don’t fall for it; it’s another money grab from a Corporation that has made many mistakes and Isn’t accustomed to competition. They saw the total amount sent back in credits and said “I want that!”
They will survive if we want to continue solar someone has to feel the pain and who better than an industry we are looking to reduce.
California called on its most forward-looking citizens to help launch the solar era in the US. With the compelling promise of 8-10 year payback, Californians responded. Yes, this has added stress to the utilities, both in terms of the Duck Curve and lost revenue. There is further concern that non-solar customers are now paying utilities for their lost profits…and this seems somewhat inevitable. So change in the NEM program should be expected…..but those who pioneered home solar should not now be punished after having invested so heavily at the invitation and promise our California’s legislature.
“Proposals submitted by California’s investor-owned utilities would gut the market for solar as well as solar-charged batteries by reducing the credit solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce by up to 80% and adding a $65 to $90 monthly solar penalty fee to their energy bills.”
AB1139 died in committee and when it is dusted off and submitted again in the future, it should be summarily put down like a sick dog once again in committee. I believe the rote IOU utilities wouldn’t be able to prove in any court that the proposed connection fee every month of $65 to $90 isn’t anything other than a form of usury and an organized “protection racket” meant to abuse the retail ratepayer under the RICO statutes.
There are plenty of “rules” in place right now between power generators and IOU electric utilities. Allowing reduction of excess energy by three to five times without consideration of “avoided costs” by the utility by NOT having to buy the solar PV system or the smart energy storage system, no real estate purchase, no floating of bonds or getting loans, no right of way problems (another reason the utility should pay ME $65 to $90 a month) to use the right of way established to MY home and all the others in the housing tract. No expenditures on filing EIRs, holding public comment events or going to court to “defend” building the project by environmental groups. No outlay of money from the utility for cleaning of panels, maintenance or repair of the system and no costs on insuring the system. The rote IOU utilities need to realize they are in an environment and a time of technology of the EaaS (Energy as a Service) period and NOT a uni-directional grid with centralized generation and dispatch over power corridors kind of economy. It would be a good thing for 100,000 independent voices to shout out to inform the rote IOU utilities that people are watching, they will not tolerate stupid communist usury to destroy their household budget in the name of the utility and they DO have options that are without wires to the utility. Just sayin’, first it’s overpriced product, on average in California electricity is averaged at $0.20/kWh to $0.25/kWh and is going up with moves like the decommissioning of Diablo Canyon nuclear plant by 2025.