![]() ![]() “We are making this change because of our commitment to addressing climate change,” Commissioner John Reynolds said. Several commissioners said they supported the decision to ensure that more solar is banked for the evenings, when the state currently relies on polluting gas-fired power plants to keep the lights on. The Public Utilities Commission sure hopes so. They also predict the economics of solar will look better than the commission projected - an idea the commissioners themselves endorsed Thursday, suggesting their nine-year payback calculation was conservative.Īt least some level of installations is guaranteed, because California requires most newly built homes to include rooftop solar. Supporters of the new incentive program expect the solar industry to respond by finding ways to lower prices, which have stayed relatively flat for the last few years. “They’re thinking about this as if the whole world is wealthy consumers with money to burn, instead of catering to middle- and low-income communities so we can fricking save this planet,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Assn., an industry trade group. For Edison and PG&E customers, the Public Utilities Commission has estimated a “payback period” of nine years under the new rules - far too long for many families to wait for savings, critics say. Part of the problem, they say, is that it will take customers too many years to make back their substantial upfront investment in solar panels. Solar industry officials have warned of a market crash that could see smaller installation companies - which make up the bulk of the industry - struggle to survive. Under Thursday’s decision, payment rates will vary by the time of day and the time of year - but on average, they’ll be much lower. Until now, Edison, PG&E and SDG&E have been required to pay them at retail electricity rates - the same rates they pay for power from the grid. That growth has been fueled by net metering, which compensates solar-powered homes and businesses for the energy they contribute to the larger power grid at times of day when they generate more than they consume. Through the end of October, almost 13,500 megawatts had been installed across California - six times as much energy-generating capacity as the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, the state’s single largest source of electricity. The rooftop solar industry has seen nonstop growth in the Golden State for more than a decade. Here are six key questions as California’s rooftop solar industry enters a new era - and as the planet keeps warming. So with the long-anticipated vote now in the rearview mirror, what happens next? Newsom’s office declined to comment, outside of a brief reference in a news release noting that the Public Utilities Commission had approved “a new solar policy that will make our grid more reliable and accelerate energy independence.” But we need big solar and wind farms, too. Can it also offer solutions?Įndless growth is unsustainable. “The current solar subsidy program forces low-income families, renters, seniors and anyone who doesn’t have rooftop solar to bankroll wealthier Californians’ solar systems,” she said in an emailed statement.Ĭlimate & Environment Capitalism fuels the climate crisis. Kathy Fairbanks, a spokesperson for the Affordable Clean Energy for All campaign - which is funded by Edison, PG&E and SDG&E - described the vote as “a missed opportunity that will prolong the harm to low-income Californians and renters.” The utility industry wasn’t pleased by Thursday’s vote, either, arguing that the commission should have reduced solar incentives even more. This proposal represents none of that,” he said. “As faith leaders, our concerns are justice, compassion and the common good. He said officials should be working to make rooftop solar “as widely available as possible for all Californians, not crippling it in the economic interests of a few.” Daniel Tamm, a deacon who spoke on behalf of the Bishop’s Commission on Climate Change, an initiative of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Dozens of solar industry supporters offered public comment before the commission’s 5-0 vote, slamming the agency for siding with the utilities - and at times suggesting Newsom, who appointed four of the five commissioners, was to blame. ![]()
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