Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
California plan would cut solar incentives
Proposal rankles utility companies, too
California is poised to reduce payments to homes and businesses that go solar for clean electricity they supply to the power grid — a landmark shift in how the state promotes a crucial technology for fighting climate change.
The Public Utilities Commission’s proposal would keep the payment rates higher — at least for a few years — than a previous plan that faced sharp criticism from the solar industry and climate activists. A vote by the utilities commission, whose five members are appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is expected as soon as next month.
Thursday’s proposal generated immediate criticism from both members of the solar industry and a group backed by the state’s monopoly utility companies, who say low-income households are being forced to subsidize wealthier solar customers.
The California Solar and Storage Association estimated that new solar customers would be paid a base rate of 5 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity that they don’t use at home, sending it to the larger power grid — down from as much as 30 cents now.
But for most houses with solar panels, that rate would be supplemented by additional payments during the first few years of a rooftop solar system’s operation — potentially higher payments than contemplated under the previous proposal and for five years rather than four. New solar customers also wouldn’t have to pay an $8 monthly charge that was part of the previous proposal.
Those changes rankled the utility companies that have pushed state officials to slash rooftop solar incentives: Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy.
In a written statement, the Affordable Clean Energy for All campaign — which is funded by the three monopoly utilities — said the new proposal “fails to make the meaningful reform necessary to ensure that all electricity customers, those with rooftop solar and those without, pay their fair share of the costs” for maintaining the electric grid.
“It is extremely disappointing that under this proposal, low-income families and all customers without solar will continue to pay a hidden tax on their electricity bills to subsidize rooftop solar for mostly wealthier Californians,” said Kathy Fairbanks, a spokesperson for the utility-backed campaign.
“The failure to finally eliminate the growing cost burden carried by non-solar customers in California is particularly troublesome given the billions of dollars in new federal clean energy subsidies that will ensure continued growth and healthy profits for large solar corporations for the next decade,” she added.
The rooftop solar industry was similarly frustrated by the proposal.
Bernadette Del Chiaro, who leads the California Solar and Storage Association, said in an email that the new plan “would protect utility monopolies and boost their profits, while making solar less affordable and delaying the goal of 100 percent clean energy.”
Del Chiaro urged Newsom and the utilities commission “to make further adjustments to help more middleand working-class consumers as well as schools and farms access affordable, reliable, clean energy.”
Homes and businesses that already have solar panels wouldn’t be affected by the changes to California’s “net metering” incentive program. Neither would utility customers who add solar panels within the first few months after the new rules are adopted.
Last December’s proposal from the Public Utilities Commission was met with fury from climate activists and solar companies, who said the changes would undermine a successful renewable energy program and crash the solar industry. They pressured Newsom to lean on his appointees — which he did, prompting the utilities commission to reconsider its decision.
At least one major environmental group wasn’t satisfied by the changes unveiled Thursday.
The Center for Biological Diversity said in an emailed statement that the new plan “abandons the hefty solar tax from last year’s proposal but still threatens to put affordable renewable energy out of reach for most communities.”
“California needs a strong net-metering program to achieve a just transition away from fossil fuels and utility monopoly control,” said Maya Golden-krasner, deputy director of the group’s Climate Law Institute. “The commission needs to strengthen renewable energy solutions that benefit marginalized communities. To do otherwise leaves these folks behind.”