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California cuts financial incentives for solar energy : NPR


The California Utilities Regulatory Commission has decided to cut the main incentive for rooftop solar. That move has worried climate activists.

Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times via Getty


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Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times via Getty


The California Utilities Regulatory Commission has decided to cut the main incentive for rooftop solar. That move has worried climate activists.

Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times via Getty

California Utilities Regulatory Commission unanimous vote to cut the main incentive for rooftop solar that has helped make the state the largest solar market in the nation.

California is seen as the focal point for the nation’s renewable energy policy. Solar advocates worry that removing the incentive will slow the state’s solar market and will encourage opponents of rooftop solar in other states to adopt. similar policies.

The vote of California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) focuses on a plan established decades ago to convince Californians to install solar panels on their roofs. If California solar customers end up generating more solar energy than they use, they can sell that excess electricity back to the grid.

Under the incentive, utilities compensate solar customers for that electricity essentially with what they pay for electricity. This payment plan is called network measurementand it helped California reach 1.5 million homes with solar energy.

The Utilities Commission voted to reduce excess solar daylight savings by approximately 75% for new solar customers beginning April 2023.

Before the vote, the committee had time for a public comment, where Californians could call in. The vast majority of the dozens of callers said they wanted to keep the old incentive structure intact.

Callers argue that cutting the compensation payment will stunt the growth of rooftop solar as homeowners and businesses will decide that solar panels are no longer worth the investment. four more.

“I strongly oppose the changes proposed by the CPUC that will make it more expensive to install solar panels on people’s rooftops,” said caller Carol Weiss from Sunnyvale, “My husband and I I’m both retired and we would never invest in rooftop solar under these proposed rules.”

After about three hours of public comment, the committee voted unanimously to adopt the proposal to change the incentive system. The committee argued that the old payment structure had served its purpose and that the pricing scheme now needed to evolve.

“It’s not designed to last forever,” says Matt Baker, director of the Office of Public Advocacyadvocated the change in solar payments, “This incentive is no longer fit for purpose, so we need a new impetus to fit the next issue.”

The new pricing plan offers higher rates for solar power in the evening when the sun isn’t shining but the state needs more electricity — especially electricity from greener sources, says Commissioner John Reynolds. Proponents of the proposal argue that the new pricing structure will encourage customers to purchase energy storage batteries alongside their solar power. That way, customers can store sunlight during the day to sell electricity back to the grid at night with higher compensation.

“In short, we’re making this change because of our commitment to tackling climate change, not because we don’t share your commitment,” Reynolds said.

But the scheme only works if the state can encourage people to buy batteries, says energy economist Ahmad Faruqui. Batteries are expensive, he said, and it would be difficult for customers to invest in both storage and solar panels.

“The committee said we wanted to promote storage, but who would order the storage if they didn’t have solar? The two go together,” Faruqui said.

Reynolds also says that the proposal is addressing so-called cost shifts. It’s the idea that wealthy people are more likely to buy solar panels and utilities that fund solar incentives from the electricity bills of lower income customers who don’t have access to electricity. Solar.

But 2021 data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shows that low- and moderate-income homeowners are increasingly using solar energy in California, and critics fear that by reducing daytime electricity prices, the proposal will prevent many of them from receiving solar energy. get battery panels.

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