Will State Regulators Kill Rooftop Solar?

By Tom Elias, Columnist

If California’s often misguided utility regulators wanted to prove they are determined to favor privately owned electric companies over almost any other interest, they could not do better than with new rules they now propose to inflict on people with rooftop solar panels.

To understand this ongoing dispute, take a look at how utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric profit most from solar.

When photovoltaic solar panels are installed atop roofs, parking lots and in backyards, the local electric company makes no money under the current rules, known as “net energy metering,” or NEM. Homeowners, parking lot owners and others with panels use the energy they need, then send the rest to the general grid and get paid minor sums for it.

Without rooftop solar, which requires no new transmission lines to reach its end users, the private utilities must buy power from vast solar thermal farms in the California deserts, transporting the energy on lines that cost billions of dollars to erect. Without some form of solar, the utilities cannot meet state renewable energy quotas.

Every cent the utilities spend on new transmission lines comes from consumers, but the companies are guaranteed to profit by more than 10 percent each year on all they spend for such capital investments.

So the utilities have a strong interest in putting the clamps on rooftop solar. Did the PUC know before making its new rule proposal that within days, the federal government would OK building two new solar thermal farms deep in the Mojave Desert?

It was the often-misguided Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego who first tried to stifle rooftop solar, carrying a 2020 bill with rules very like what’s now before the PUC, due for a vote Jan. 27 in San Francisco.

Gonzalez, who also wrote the ill-advised AB5 that has wrecked the livelihoods of many freelance professionals and others, proposed ending the current guarantee to solar homeowners that rules will remain stable for at least 20 years after systems go in. She wanted the PUC to set new monthly fees for solar owners connected to the grid – about 97 percent of rooftop solar owners.

Her bill died quickly. But the newly termed out PUC Commissioner Martha Guzman-Aceves, a former United Farm Workers lawyer, picked up on it with today’s proposal, which goes beyond even what Gonzalez proposed.

It would impose a monthly fee of approximately $50 to $70 on each rooftop owner and reduce what home solar owners get for their excess power, among other items.

That’s just what the utilities want. They pretend this will save non rooftop solar owners money, but never mention their baked-in profits from new transmission lines, money that’s included in electric rates. Meanwhile, millions of consumers can already get solar power from publicly owned Community Choice Aggregations in places like Butte, Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. These outfits provide energy cheaper than the utilities while renting space on the companies’ transmission lines to bring power to their customers.

So it’s no wonder the utilities like the proposed new rules, with their disincentives to installing new rooftop panels. Said Southern California Edison when the plan got preliminary approval, “(This is) a meaningful step (to) reduce the financial burden on non-solar customers who have subsidized net energy metering…”

That’s the kind of half-truth California’s utilities often spout. In this case, needed new transmission lines will ensure a large net benefit to the companies at customer expense.

Right now, there is every likelihood the PUC will rubber stamp the new rules, no matter what it hears during the current public comment period, when anyone can speak or write their piece to the commissioners.

But by Jan. 27, the PUC will have two new members, giving at least some hope this will suffer the same fate as the Gonzalez bill of 2020.

Odds are the PUC will OK this proposal, just as it does most items its staff presents. That would be yet another contribution to the long tradition of state and federal regulators favoring the big companies over their customers.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, “The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It” is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

Related Posts

Architect Noah Walker-Designed Pali Home Hits Market at $15M

October 8, 2024

October 8, 2024

Set on a 12,000-Square-Foot Lot, the Property Is Surrounded by Dense Vegetation, Including Coastal Live Oaks A one-story architectural home...

J.J. Abrams Lists Palisades Home for $3.5M: Report

October 2, 2024

October 2, 2024

The two-story home features a formal living room with an exposed brick fireplace, hardwood floors, and crown molding J.J. Abrams,...

Los Angeles Man Indicted on 26 Felony Counts Including Rape, Stalking, Faces Life in Prison

September 25, 2024

September 25, 2024

Police Suspect There May Be More Victims, Seek Public’s Help  Terrance Hawkins has been indicted on 26 felony counts, including...

Matthew Perry’s Hollywood Home Sees Major Price Cut: Report

September 22, 2024

September 22, 2024

Perry, Best Known for His Role on Friends, Purchased the House in 2023 for Nearly $5M The Hollywood Hills home...

TikTok Celebrity Selling Pacific Palisades Home for Nearly $5M: Report

September 11, 2024

September 11, 2024

The four-bedroom, 3,961-square-foot home is described as a “Zen-like retreat” TikTok star Bella Poarch has listed her Pacific Palisades home...

(Video) Construction of Eight-Story Mixed-Use Building Progresses Along Broadway

September 11, 2024

September 11, 2024

It Is Set to Feature 90,000 Sq Ft of Commercial Space and 280 Apartments @palisadesnews A Vons Supermarket will be...

Sarah Paulson Drops Price on Furnished Malibu Mobile Home in Exclusive Paradise Cove

September 10, 2024

September 10, 2024

Actress Lowers Price for Her Trailer in One of America’s Priciest Mobile Home Parks Actress Sarah Paulson has reduced the...

Six-Bedroom Palisadian Estate Hits Market at $49M

September 9, 2024

September 9, 2024

The Property Boasts a 50-Foot Infinity-Edge Pool, a Private Guest House, and a Home Gym A Pacific Palisades estate is...

Olympians to Join Pups Without Borders Adoption Event in Brentwood on Sept. 22

September 5, 2024

September 5, 2024

Meet Olympic Medalists and Adopt a Dog at the Barrington Circle Event Pups Without Borders, a rescue organization dedicated to...

Los Angeles Agrees to $38.2 Million Settlement Over HUD Accessibility Violations in Affordable Housing

August 28, 2024

August 28, 2024

City Settles Federal Allegations of Failing to Meet Accessibility Standards Officials announced that the City of Los Angeles has agreed...

Golden State Warriors Owner Lists Malibu Pad for $44M: Report

August 26, 2024

August 26, 2024

Lacob, whose net worth is estimated at $2.1 billion by Forbes, purchased the mansion in 2019 for $29.1 million Billionaire...

LAPD Issues Community Alert Amid Surge in Upscale West LA Neighborhood Burglaries

August 25, 2024

August 25, 2024

Thieves Target High-End Valuables in Residential Break-Ins Across West Los Angeles The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has issued a...

Seven-Bedroom Riviera Neighborhood Home Hits Market at $20M

August 22, 2024

August 22, 2024

The Home Includes a Savant Home Automation System, Security Cameras, Enphase Solar Panels, and an Elevator A newly completed 16,186...

Jennifer Lopez Files for Divorce from Ben Affleck, Ending Nearly Two-Year Marriage

August 21, 2024

August 21, 2024

Lopez Submits Divorce Papers Without Legal Representation, There Was No Prenup Jennifer Lopez has officially filed for divorce from Ben...

Brentwood Man Charged with Sexually and Physically Assaulting Mother Walking With Newborn Infant

August 11, 2024

August 11, 2024

Suspect Faces Multiple Charges For Alleged Attack on Mother and Child in Brentwood  Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón...