sftomorrow – excerpt
In case you haven’t heard, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has proposed new rules for NEM ((net metering – the state’s main solar incentive program) that would make solar much more expensive – while disingenuously claiming to promote equity. This is being pushed by the big three investor-owned utilities, including PG&E, and could be voted on by the commission as soon as January 27th.
The utilities have lobbied the CPUC to charge a solar penalty fee of $8 per kilowatt – averaging $57/month – to every solar customer), and to reduce by 80% the credit solar users earn for excess electricity sent back to back the grid. It will put solar out of reach for middle and working class people, hurt small solar companies, and imperil thousands of jobs.
The utilities’ motive is obvious. Locally-generated energy from the sun lowers their profits. It also weakens their argument for building additional huge, potentially fire-hazardous transmission lines – the type of infrastructure spending that led PG&E to announce an 18% rate hike for 2023.
Not only are the proposed changes highly inequitable, they will make the goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045 even more elusive. We need all the solar power we can get, not penalties for households that provide it. We need to speak up. Here are several ways to make your voice heard:
TOMORROW, Thursday Jan 13th: SAVE SOLAR RALLY. Show up (masked) at SF Civic Center Plaza at 11 am sharp, then march a block to CPUC. Bring a sign if you can, but they will have some there. Rsvp here.
Now: Sign petition & email Governor Newsom: https://www.savecaliforniasolar.org/sign-petition Call the governor: Ask him to prove that climate is a priority by standing up for rooftop solar. His number is 916-445-2841. Here’s a sample script. Note: His office only takes calls/voicemails 9 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday. If the mailbox is full,please try again. Perseverance furthers!
Thursday Jan 27th, 10 am: Call in to CPUC meeting. Re: CPUC Docket #: R.20-08-020. Calendar here. (Agenda with call-in information should be available the day before the meeting.)
BACKGROUND
Here is a fact sheet on the CPUC’s proposal, with citations. And here are FAQs and a toolkit.
Newspaper & online editorials, including SF Chron, LA Times & Sac Bee: https://www.savecaliforniasolar.org/news