The California Public Utilities Commission is poised to delay enacting controversial changes to net energy metering (NEM) for another year, saying it needs more time to consider revisions to how the state compensates owners of rooftop solar for electricity sent to the grid.
The current Aug. 27 deadline in the proceeding does not give the CPUC or the public enough time to review the mass of comments it has received on the changes or to vet alternatives, the commission said in a proposed decision Monday.
“Accordingly, it is necessary to extend the deadline by one year to allow adequate time to address the remaining issues of this proceeding,” Administrative Law Judge Kelly Hymes wrote in the proposed order, which the CPUC will likely take up at its next voting meeting on Aug. 25.
The one-year delay, to Aug. 27, 2023, is the latest postponement of California’s efforts to reduce the generous credits it gives to rooftop solar owners who export surplus electricity. Currently, those customers receive bill offsets at full retail electricity rates, which are far more than the current costs of utility-scale solar.
A proposed decision in December set off a storm of public criticism by recommending up to an 80% credit reduction while adding an $8/kW monthly grid participation charge (GPC) to customers’ bills. (See California PUC Proposes New Net Metering Plan.)
Opponents, led by the solar industry, have argued such a plan would decimate rooftop solar adoption. The NEM credits have made California the nation’s rooftop solar leader, with more than 1.3 million installations, they contend.
Proponents of change, 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 in December that the current 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,” Hymes wrote.
Utilities estimated that $4 billion in costs would be shifted this year from ratepayers with rooftop solar to those without it.
The outpouring of criticism over the December proposal led the CPUC to postpone an expected decision in January, as the commission’s new president, Alice Reynolds, took the lead on the proceeding.
In May, Hymes asked parties to comment on questions she posed regarding possible alternatives.
The judge’s questions focused on a “glide path” to gradually transition rooftop solar owners from the generous benefits they now receive, and non-bypassable charges for solar owners based on their gross energy consumption, including use of the solar energy they generate.
A voluminous response to the judge’s questions came from industry groups and environmental advocates, among others.
In comments Monday, ClearView Energy Partners said it believed the latest delay signals the likelihood that the CPUC will eventually issue a scaled-back proposal next year.
“We continue to think final reforms are likely to be more modest than those offered in the [December proposed decision],” the firm said. “We think the glide path and the GPC are most susceptible to changes.”