There’s no denying state government policies and incentives contributed to the rise of rooftop solar in California. Now state policies are threatening to all but kill it.
If progressive California really wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the state needs to quash proposed regulations that would make solar energy for homeowners even more unaffordable than it is now.
A story in this newspaper Monday detailed the proposal by the state’s three major utilities, including PG&E.
The proposal was released by the utilities over the summer. It was easy to dismiss it at the time as laughable. But as it gets closer to reality, it’s time for citizens and especially our legislators to speak up about the absurdity.
As more and more people escape the utilities’ clutches and switch to solar, the companies still have a problem. They have fixed costs to their electricity grid, they have employees and pensions to pay, and they have shareholders to keep satisfied despite being “public” utilities.
The companies thus have two options: They can charge more money to existing customers still on the grid, or they can find a way to milk the people who got off it.
PG&E, San Diego Gas and Electric, and SoCal Edison submitted proposals to the California Public Utilities Commission that would drive up solar costs for new customers. PG&E estimates a typical customer would see their bill more than double, from $13 to $29 per month. Edison estimates its typical solar customer would see a bill of $135 a month, up from $65 now.
The California Solar Energy Industries Association estimates it would take 17 years for a PG&E customer to cover the up-front costs based on future savings. The payback period would be 20 years for the average Edison customer, 26 years for SDG&E.
Existing customers, those who already have made the leap to solar, would be grandfathered into existing rates for 20 years.
The promise of frozen monthly bills along with incentives to go solar has made many Californians make that jump. A 17-year payback period makes it much tougher for the average resident to do so.
The proposal stabs a stake into the heart of solar, and solar advocates are justified in suspecting that’s what the utility companies had in mind all along.
PG&E and the other utilities insist they’re not trying to kill off solar, that they’ll still buy back excess power and that prices for installations are coming down as more companies and manufacturers enter the marketplace. In a case of supply and demand, both are rising so prices are falling.
But would the new regulations dissuade that demand? It sure seems like they would, if enacted by the CPUC.
Unfortunately, the California Public Utilities Commission doesn’t prioritize the “public” part of its title. The agency is a shill for the utility companies. Your monthly water and power bills prove it. The companies usually get what they want from the CPUC.
That’s why citizens need to speak out now, before the change, rather than waiting until the changes are enacted and it’s too late. Write your state legislators. Write the CPUC at public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov. Write letters to the editor.
Everybody should have an interest in this. Those who are contemplating a switch to solar would see the feasibility of doing so crumble. Those who have already made the switch would see their lower bills are less than a sure thing, whether it’s now or 20 years from now. And all Californians should value a system that encourages and rewards clean energy.
It’s a complex issue, and the utilities’ proposals seek to make it too simple. We urge the CPUC to not adopt the utilities’ proposals, but to instead seek solutions that continue to encourage solar investment.
