The Public Utilities Commission opened hearings Monday in San Francisco on whether power companies can raise charges and lower compensation for owners of rooftop solar. Reporter David Knutson has the story…
Right now under the net metering program, solar owners are credited at the same rate the utilities charge. Evan Gillespie, director with the Sierra Club, says the changes the utilities want would take away the savings that lead people to install roof top solar.
“If the utilities succeed in making these changes, only the very, very rich are going to be able to afford solar going forward, and that’s a big problem because it’s also taking away one of the single greatest tools that we have to fight climate change and clean up our air.”
San Diego Gas and Electric, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Edison would like to cut compensation to homeowners by about half, and charge higher connection fees, arguing that solar owners don’t contribute enough to the upkeep of the grid.
Gillespie says the utilities’ argument doesn’t hold up because solar generators reduce the demand for power from dirtier, more expensive sources and improve grid reliability.
“It’s a nice story that they have yet to demonstrate data to back up. We just made significant changes to how customers pay their bills. Going forward every Californian is gonna to be paying about $10 a month on their bill to cover these types of infrastructure charges.”
The Public Utilities Commission has until the end of the year to make a decision.
HEARINGS ON ROOFTOP SOLAR POWER RATES HAVE BEGUN
