Stop the PG&E Attack on Rooftop Solar

(06/2021) PG&E and California’s other investor-owned utilities are pushing the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to gut Net Metering, California's cornerstone rooftop solar policy. 
 
 
The utility proposals in the CPUC’s new Net Energy Metering 3.0 proceeding effectively tank the growth of rooftop solar. Their stated objective is to slash payback period of a solar installation from the current 5-8 years to 20-25 years—so there will be essentially no financial benefit to installing rooftop solar.

Rooftop solar—more properly, any solar installation on the customer side of the electricity meter—has been a crucial element in the state’s transition to renewable energy. It is helping reduce the impacts of the climate crisis, stabilize the grid, support local green jobs, stimulate local economies, and provide energy independence to families, schools, businesses, and places of worship. Combined with battery storage, rooftop solar enables the development of microgrids, a key energy resilience strategy for our communities.
 
Outrageously, the utilities are killing rooftop solar in the name of “equity.” Instead of making changes to policy that would get solar into the hands of more low-income people and renters, the utilities are arguing that “equity” means that no one (other than themselves) should benefit from solar energy. 
 
The petition to Newsom is an effort to leverage the Governor’s influence over the CPUC to protect the public’s interest in expanding rooftop solar over the utilities’ interest in capturing all the profits of solar development. A companion letter to Newsom has been signed by many organizations, including the Local Clean Energy Alliance. 
 
Check out this video from a live rally at the capital in Sacramento to oppose AB 1139. Al Weinrub of the Local Clean Energy Alliance speaks against the monopoly utilities' attack on local solar from 57:15 to 101:50.