Will the state of California break contractual agreements with nearly 2 million solar customers? That’s the question on many Central Coast homeowners’ minds, and mine, after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released a report in February proposing sweeping changes to how ratepayers are charged for electricity.
The CPUC proposes slashing payments to “legacy” solar customers who installed systems before April 2023 under Net Energy Metering 1 and 2. The report claims that the shift would lower bills for non-solar customers who are currently paying for fixed costs that solar users bypass.
However, solar industry proponents—myself included—believe this ill-guided approach will disproportionately penalize solar customers and discourage all California ratepayers from embracing clean, renewable energy…