The California State Assembly’s Utilities & Energy Committee voted 10-4 to pass an amended version of Assembly Bill 942, which seeks to cut compensation rates for existing rooftop solar customers that send electricity to the grid.
The bill requires that homes with rooftop solar that are sold or transferred must be shifted off their net energy metering plans, damaging the expected bill savings from the system.
AB 942, as originally prosed, sought to sunset net energy metering (NEM) for homeowners that have purchased and installed solar under the NEM 1.0 and 2.0 rate plans within a 10-year window. As proposed the bill would have forced customers onto NEM 3.0, which pays about 80% less for electricity sent to the grid, making electricity bill savings from investing in solar more difficult to achieve.
The amended bill removed the 10-year sunset for all customers, but retained the requirement that sold or transferred homes must be shifted onto NEM 3.0.
Brad Heavner, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) said the bill “breaks contractual promises with millions of solar users.”
An average rooftop solar customer would see their home’s electricity bills increase by about $63 per month after selling or transferring their home, presenting a potential sticking point in a real estate transaction.
An amended, AB 942 would be “unworkable in practice, putting utilities in the position of verifying real estate transactions,” said Heavner.
“Messing with home values and the transferability of property has long been considered a dangerous “third rail” for California politicians, and this interference is no different,” he said.
The bill was filed by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon. Calderon had a 25-year tenure in a government affairs and political compliance role with one of the state’s investor-owned utilities, Southern California Edison.
“AB 942 backers claim it is intended to lower energy rates, but it is actually designed to protect utility profits. The real reason electricity rates keep skyrocketing in California is out of control utility spending on transmission infrastructure,” said Heavner.
According to the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s three largest electric utilities PG&E, SCE and SDGE have raised customer rates by 110%, 90% and 82%, respectively, over the last decade. Despite relatively flat electricity usage, transmission and distribution spending by utilities has increased 300%.
“For-profit utilities get a lucrative guaranteed profit return on infrastructure spending, which provides an ongoing motive to keep spending more,” said Heavner.
Rooftop solar was estimated to save all California ratepayers, including non-solar customers, $1.5 billion in bills in 2024 alone. However, rooftop solar represents direct competition to the profit model for the state’s largest investor-owned utilities, which has placed it in the crosshairs as a regulatory scapegoat.
“In solar, California leads. If this bill makes it to [California Governor] Newsom’s desk, we expect other states will be emboldened to take similar actions,” said Fox Swim, senior solar industry researcher, Aurora Solar. “What we should really be doing is incentivizing residential solar plus storage for its environmental and reliability benefits.”
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This last minute AB 492 major change at least protects Californians who calculated their solar ROI based on a 20 year contract with their utility. Not so good for those who added solar near the end of NEM2.0 with the idea that they would sell their property and their NEM2.0 contract would continue with new ownership. My wife and I are seniors on a fixed income so purchasing solar 2 years ago was a major expense. We hope to be able to live here for the next 18 years of our contract with PGE.
Wondering why there is no DOGE investigation into the spending of public utilities that became a monopoly and now sway the opinions at the cpuc and state level as has been done for decades. There is no valid excuse or factual reasoning behind the cancellation of our solar contracts, only greed and self advancement by the people running these companies and their investors, investors who demanded a higher return, and now they’ll get it at ratepayers expense. $2.3 million in earnings last year, ridiculous!
How many millions are going to the ceo’s, VP’s, Sr VP’s, and the list of ridiculous amounts of pay continues to goes on, and on, and on. PGE is a publicly owned utility, why does the PUC continue giving them everything they want for mismanagement mistakes? Why do ratepayers have to foot the bills for system maintenance when the has always been built into the customers rates. Deferring maintenance is what got the utilities into the legal situations over the years, all the while officers of the company and management continue “earning” their annual bonuses by avoiding maintenance.
When I lived in Sacramento, SMUD used to state in their annual newsletter to customers that solar power was saving them a lot of money because it was allowing them to defer construction of a new power plant. Why do articles like this always seem to leave out facts like that?
Think about it like this yes they are saving on construction but they still are raising the price at least 85% so does it really matter that they are saving money while charging us more at the same time
Another attempt to steal from people of California by state government. Nothing new.
Utility rates in CA have rapidly increased due to government fees. Basically, we are paying more so that others don’t. We’re paying for other people to have FREE upgrades to their homes, while also lining the pockets of NGOs that work as middlemen.
Lol yep, your energy rates are going up because your neighbors got solar panels, not because you live under predatory and monopolistic utilities that have been openly price gouging you for decades.
And who is getting free upgrades exactly?
Would you like to buy some snake oil? Hahahahaha, sad.
“…would end net metering for homes with solar once they are sold…” Something must be driving these changes. Net metering had a lot to do with home owners making the solar decision. Could be the utility does not like to see their revenue decrease and puts pressure on decision makers….who then change the rules.
Battery storage is becoming less expensive as years go buy. If politicians and utilities keep “tinkering” with the rules that encourage renewable energy then some home owners may get fed up. They might install enough batteries to power the entire home day and night and stay connected to the grid as a backup generator.
(Of course, they would pay a monthly connection fee.)
While home battery storage is the best solution, the response to that will be higher and higher base charges and a requirement of connection to the grid.
The grid has to be paid for and maintained and is getting more expensive because of increased demand from AI and other power hungry categories like bitcoin mining.
They would just set the “connection fee” at whatever your neighborhood pays. Solar is a terrible investment, now
It is good to read that commercial corporate utility mega Grid infrastructure concept for future electricity transmission is more publicly “named” in the light. last century tech and engineering, was great for owners’ profits, but micro utility “in town” solar, “On Built/Disturbed Surfaces, Only”, with its better tech, engineering and business model will grow with environmental considerations. There can be a long needed move, forwards and away from – Business monopoly. No more reinforcing extensions to add height to old towers, carrying far more, and more massive, power lines – into Last Stand natural desert wildlands…
No surprise here. You gotta love how reliable CA is when it comes to screwing its citizens.
This is really a joke how utility companies have use this forum to kill solar and the best part appointed by the state. Everyone keeps ignoring this.
Somehow this has to be stopped. Have to tell Governor to veto this bill. Its a breach of contact pure and simple. It renders the entire apparatus on my roof useless. It causes restraint on alienation of my property as well. Completely bone headed bill