It's the California Public Utilities Commission's second attempt at updating the state's incentive program for home solar systems. Last December, the commission proposed new charges for solar customers and lessened the subsidies for installing rooftop panels, which utilities wanted but solar companies warned would cripple the booming industry and hinder the state's move to clean energy.
California's three major utilities - Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric - have argued the payment is so generous that solar customers aren't paying their fair share for the overall cost of the electric grid, which they still rely on when their panels aren't generating power. Power rates include other costs like electric transmission and wildfire prevention work.
The new proposal lessens how much money people get for selling their extra energy. But it doesn't include a solar-specific fee that utilities wanted. It creates new financial incentives for people to install home storage systems to capture extra solar energy during the day. It also changes electric rates to encourage people to export stored energy to the grid in the late afternoon and early evening, when the grid typically transitions from renewable sources to fossil fuels.
People who already have solar panels and storage systems would not see a change to their bill credits; the plan would only affect new customers. It also locks in a better rate for people who install in the next five years in an attempt to encourage more homeowners to get into the solar market now, though the solar industry argues its too minimal to matter.
About 150,000 people add solar panels annually, and between 16% and 20% of those installations include battery storage, she said. She further chided the commission for not further reducing state payments for solar consumers at a time when there is more federal money flowing toward solar panels and other clean energy. The federal spending law signed by President Joe Biden in August includes a 30% federal tax credit - estimated to be about $7,500 - for installing solar panels within the next decade, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.