California regulators dealt the struggling solar industry a fresh blow, adopting rules that renewable advocates warn will discourage smaller projects.
The rules cover so-called “community solar” programs that allow renters and low-income households to participate in small-scale solar projects built on nearby vacant land or commercial rooftops. To encourage the spread of these projects, a coalition of California ratepayer advocates, environmental justice groups and unions put forward a proposal aimed at making them affordable for subscribers and attractive to developers.
“We need to be very focused on this downward pressure on bills at this moment because we’re in the midst of an affordability crisis in electricity bills,” said Alice Reynolds, California Public Utilities Commission president. “Keeping the bills affordable is also key to unlocking our climate change objectives.”