All Californians deserve cleaner, low-cost power
Scott Pruitt’s recent exit as head of the Environmental Protection Agency followed 17 months of federal deregulation and dysfunction. As the Trump administration went after working-class communities of color with one hand, Pruitt went after the air we breathe and water we drink with another.
While destructive deregulation is likely to continue under the EPA’s new leadership, we are happy to announce that California is forging ahead. We are working every day to make sure our green revolution is not only sustainable but also equitable and responsive to those most affected by climate change and the fossil fuel industry.
Over the past decade, Californians have installed close to 6,700 megawatts of rooftop solar on resident-owned homes throughout the state. Unfortunately, as solar adoption and investment have increased, low-income residents — homeowners and renters — have been left behind. This disparity has demonstrated the need for incentive programs to establish equity as a priority from the start.
In the 70,000-square-mile service area where Pacific Gas and Electric Company operates, just 17 percent of all rooftop solar is in disadvantaged communities. Only 0.4 percent belongs to low-income residents.
Last month, the California Public Utilities Commission approved funding solar projects for low-income customers and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. This is a
huge step in bringing lower energy costs and clean air to all Californians.
The Community Solar Green Tariff Program — one of the three programs adopted in the CPUC decision — requires new solar projects be built within the state’s most disadvantaged communities. People living within the same community as the project will be able to subscribe. The program also requires demonstration of community involvement, ensuring that the benefits of access to clean energy reflect the needs and interests of residents.
The communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution deserve the powerful economic opportunities and healthy neighborhoods that clean energy brings. That’s why the CPUC’s decision is so exciting.
The program is designed to ensure that solar projects benefit residents by creating new jobs and by working with nonprofits and local governments in community outreach. This collaborative approach offers an opportunity to involve and build on the work of trusted local partners.
There is also a very real economic benefit to residents’ monthly electricity bills. The program will reduce bills of customers who gain access to community solar by 20 percent. By reducing electricity costs among low-income households who use a higher percent of their money to pay for energy, families can become more financially secure.
The green tariff program, along with the recently adopted solar program for multifamily affordable housing, are part of a collective effort to remedy the disinvestment of the past and steward a just and equitable transition toward economic empowerment and healthy neighborhoods going forward.
But as promising as these new programs are, our work to make renewable energy accessible to all Californians is just beginning. Utilities, solar developers, local government, school districts and others in California’s disadvantaged communities will have to come together to develop and put forward proposals if we are to make this dream of an equitable, green future a reality.
We’re confident such relationships will be critical to the success of these solar investments, and they will help residents and communities on other key aspects of their energy use — including further decarbonization, transportation electrification and affordability. While federal regulators accelerate inequality and climate catastrophe, California has a chance to lead us in a different direction — toward a future that is equitable and green.
Martha Guzman Aceves was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission in December 2016. Amee Raval is a senior policy and research associate for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network.