The California Public Utilities Commission is delaying its consideration of a highly controversial plan to slash rooftop solar credits amid an outpouring of criticism, including from Gov. Gavin Newsom and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The proposed decision, released in December, would reduce electric bill credits for homeowners with rooftop solar arrays by up to 80% and add a monthly grid charge to their bills. (See California PUC Proposes New Net Metering Plan.)
Opponents, led by the solar industry, contend it will decimate rooftop solar adoption. Proponents, including the state’s large investor-owned utilities, argue utility-scale solar is more cost-effective and can serve far more consumers.
The CPUC said in its proposed decision that the current net-metering scheme unfairly shifts costs from homeowners who can afford rooftop solar to those who cannot.
It “negatively impacts nonparticipating customers, is not cost-effective and disproportionately harms low-income ratepayers,” Administrative Law Judge Kelly Hymes wrote.
The proposal was widely expected to be taken up at the commission’s voting meeting on Jan. 27, the earliest date on which it could be heard under commission rules, but the CPUC’s agenda for the meeting does not include the item.
In a recent press conference, Newsom said he thinks the plan needs more work. (See CPUC Takes Heat on Rooftop Solar Plan.)
And in a New York Times opinion essay published Jan. 17, Schwarzenegger criticized the plan as a threat to solar adoption.
“California has more rooftops with solar panels than any other state and continues to be a leader in new installations,” he said. “But a proposal from the state’s public utility commission threatens that progress. It should be stopped in its tracks.”
The state’s generous net energy metering (NEM) rates are credited with helping to install roughly 1.3 million residential arrays. NEM offsets customer bills at full retail electricity rates, which are much higher than current solar costs.
In an email Thursday, CPUC spokesperson Terrie Prosper said the commission felt it was too soon to vote on the proposed decision.
“We have two new commissioners, one of whom has not started yet,” Prosper wrote. “Comments from parties on the proposed decision have just been received for this extremely important policy matter. We will provide more information once a schedule has been determined.”
Newsom appointed his former energy adviser, Alice Reynolds, as the new president of the CPUC in November. (See Calif. Governor Names Next CPUC President.)
In December he appointed John Reynolds (unrelated to Alice), a lawyer and former CPUC staff member, to fill the seat vacated by Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves. Reynolds previously worked as managing counsel to self-driving car company Cruise in San Francisco. He has not yet begun work at the commission.
Guzman Aceves, the lead commissioner on the proposed net-metering plan, left the CPUC to become head of the EPA’s Region 9 in December, at about the same time that former CPUC President Marybel Batjer retired. (See Biden Appoints CPUC Commissioner to Head EPA Region 9.)
The CPUC’s two new members, Newsom’s critique and the largescale public outreach campaign by the solar industry now leaves the plan in limbo.