SOLAR PLAN COULD BE ADJUSTED

“I’ll say this about the plan: We still have some work to do.” regarding proposal for changes to the state’s Net Energy Metering program Newsom indicates revisions possible; California Public Utilities Commission may vote as early as Jan. 27

Gov. Gavin Newsom indicated revisions will be coming to a controversial proposal that would make dramatic changes to the state’s Net Energy Metering program that affects the 1.3 million Californians who have installed rooftop solar on their homes and businesses.

“That draft plan that was recently released, I just had a chance to review, and I’ll say this about the plan: We still have some work to do,” Newsom said when asked about the proposal that is scheduled to go before the California Public Utilities Commission later this month. Newsom made his remarks Monday during a wide-ranging news conference unveiling specifics of the state budget the governor is sending to the Legislature in Sacramento.

When asked another question later in the news conference about the proposal, Newsom said, “Do I think changes need to be made? Yes I do.”

Newsom’s remarks open the door for making amendments to the existing proposal or for the utilities commission, called the CPUC for short, to write a separate, alternate decision that commissioners could also consider before taking a vote.

Under Net Energy Metering, or NEM, when a rooftop solar system generates more energy than the homeowner or business actually consumes, customers can sell the excess back to utilities via the grid and receive credits on their bills. California has not updated the rules for its NEM program since January 2016.

In December, the utilities commission released a 204-page proposal for a net billing tariff that called for a raft of changes. Two of the most notable were:

U-T FILE Changes are on the way for Net Energy Metering, where excess energy from solar panels can be sold back to the grid.