12/14 update: The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) General Counsel Caroline Leary, who has been actively involved in the lawsuit and was in the courtroom for the oral arguments, made the following press statement:
“Today the court heard how the CPUC made a drastic change in rooftop solar incentives without following its statutory mandate to both consider all the social costs and benefits and to provide alternatives for solar growth in disadvantaged communities. EWG was pleased to hear the court’s concerns about the CPUC failing to place more importance on the benefits of solar in its decision. The reality is the CPUC’s decision guts rooftop solar, puts rooftop solar financially out of reach for millions of working families, and fails to prepare California and the country for the worst impacts of climate change.”
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the court did not give a timeline on issuing a ruling on this case.
A California appeals court panel will hear oral arguments at 9:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday, December 13, in a lawsuit challenging the state’s new rooftop solar policy. The policy, approved by the California Public Utilities Commission and effective April 15, significantly slashes the credit new solar users get for sharing their extra solar energy with the grid. The hearing will be livestreamed.
California’s new net metering policy slashes customer credits by up to 80% for electricity generated on rooftops and sold back to the grid. The new policy has led to huge layoffs and business closures in the solar industry. According to the Center, it also violated state law, which requires that any policies ensure the rooftop solar market keeps growing, particularly in environmental justice communities.
In May, the Center for Biological Diversity, The Protect Our Communities Foundation and the Environmental Working Group petitioned the California Court of Appeal to review the policy after the commission rejected the group’s appeal in January.
The petition says the commission ignored a host of rooftop solar benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, resilience to extreme weather and power outages and decreasing the need for utility transmission lines. It also says for-profit utilities across the country are trying to gut rooftop solar programs because distributed energy resources, like rooftop solar, threaten the utility business model.
News item from The Center for Biological Diversity
If the courts will not act, the voters will need to. We can and must overturn these new rules and ensure that it will not happen again.
Hi, thank you for the space to – vent. :} I agree with the above description…I feel
almost none of “solar” floundering, is related to understanding the fast evolution of the science and physics of “solar”, or – of “solar”. Or of the upcoming, other, “solars”.
– All – of the turmoil seems to be the result of: No one group able to get – their – “solar” for less $ than another group’s, and one group realizing its exclusive, preclusive complete control of – their – 1872-1976 FLPMA-era solar tech and business model (perpetual inflow of preferred profitability) – is going away.
Same as mentioned, above, it seems to be all about “efficiently”, (from Steven Brill’s 2016 book, Tailspin) – eliminating any reason for not getting – all – of the $.
I have faith I will live to see everyone happy to have, most importantly, start to finish -Green – reliable, and reliably affordable solar power: No harm done to the remaining natural wildlands.
We all look forwards to life with our “solar”, just not done anymore, The Only Way! It Can Work! Right! —
— For commercial utility scale solar “large array” infrastructure developer – corporations.
The energy companies always ask for the extreme (75+%) reductions. The PUC’s usually give them their way. Instead of asking for something like 50% which people and businesses can understand and work with. The energy companies never want an equitable trade off, it’s all about profit jut for them, even after you have provided pass through income for them.