California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Public Utilities Commission are about to destroy the rooftop solar success story with a new, but still too extreme proposal slashing its incentives.
It will cut the money utilities pay for the extra clean energy sent to the grid by 75%. It would extend the payback time for solar installations and tank this important industry that produces 70,000 jobs for Calfiornians. The commission votes on this new proposal Dec. 15.
Rooftop solar panels, when paired with home batteries or electric vehicle batteries, are vital to California’s need for clean energy production. Without rooftop solar we can’t prevent the worst consequences of climate change. We are already experiencing a dramatic decrease in our water supply, extreme heat waves that expose the frailty of our utility infrastructure and wildfires that destroy whole neighborhoods and kill people.
In fact, it was rooftop solar energy banked in batteries and sent to the energy supply that helped keep the power on during the recent September heat event. Newsom and the CPUC will destroy the rooftop solar market even when the California Energy Commission and the California Air Resource Board say it is vital to the state’s ability to prevent the worst consequences of climate change.
It is corruption in plain sight. According to a Washington Post investigation, Newsom and his family have received at least $700,000 in contributions from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., its foundation and its employees over the last 20 years. The CPUC is supposed to be independent, but its decisions seem to be dictated by the governor.
“We do whatever the governor tells us to do, period,” former CPUC executive director Alice Stebbins said in a 2021 interview with Sacramento’s ABC10. Our governor seems to be choosing what the utilities want and they see rooftop solar as a threat to their profits.
The utilities use the “equity” argument to justify their greed. They say the current rules aren’t fair to those who cannot afford solar. However, in 2021 43% of new solar installations nationally went to lower income residents. If the CPUC is concerned about equity, it could take the $1 billion in fines the utilities have paid for issues that led to wildfires burning down huge portions of the state to help lower income get solar. Furthermore, a study by Vibrant showed that enabling the continued growth of rooftop solar panels and storage could save ratepayers as much as $120 billion over the next 30 years.
The loss of distributed energy like rooftop solar has severe consequences, not only for the growth of renewable energy but for the greater goal of decarbonization. Electrified transportation and buildings provide no benefit if they are not powered with clean energy.
It also helps our energy supply. During the September heat wave, a virtual power plant of rooftop solar and batteries helped keep everyone’s air conditioning on. This ability to add to the clean power supply for everyone will expand exponentially when electric vehicle batteries can be used to back up solar.
As the renowned energy economist Ahmed Faruqui said in his comments to the CPUC, “Rooftop solar panels provide customers with low-cost energy that is clean and, when paired with a battery, can help customers cope with power outages and share power with their neighbors and the grid. If customers will not install rooftop solar panels because they have a very long payback period, they will not install a battery either. The market is moving towards more batteries, but supply is currently tight and we are still high on the cost curve. Over time, when supply increases and costs decline more of these batteries can be aggregated to provide massive value to the grid and the customer. Why kill that chance now?”
PG&E’s donations to Newsom should not affect California’s energy supply at the expense of our best interest. It should not come at the expense of our children and grandchildren’s future.
This proposal will accelerate climate change. Call or email the governor and tell him to stop his rooftop solar attacks. We have the power to stop this if we use our voices loud and clear. Please use yours.
Susannah Saunders is vice chair of the San Anselmo Climate Action Commission.
