Report reveals “by essentially halting the solar and storage market, the utility profit grab would cost California tens of billions over time and each ratepayer $295 a year.”
Sacramento, CA — The California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) released the following statement on the new grid modeling report from Vibrant Clean Energy which showed growing local solar and storage would save California ratepayers $120 billion over the next 30 years, the equivalent of $295 per year for the average California ratepayer:
The Vibrant Energy Report adds yet another benefit to the many positives that come with growing local solar and storage: big savings for everyone in California.
The report also reveals just how costly it would be if investor-owned utilities get their way at the California Public Utilities Commission as the agency considers adjustments to net metering, the program responsible for making solar affordable and growing in middle- and working-class neighborhoods. Proposals submitted by the big utilities would drastically reduce the credit solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce and add a $65-90 monthly solar penalty fee to their energy bills. It’s an effort by utilities to eliminate a growing competitor in the energy market and secure a primary source of profits through the construction of long-distance transmission lines, which local solar helps reduce.
By essentially halting the local solar and storage market, and turning potential savings into costs borne by consumers, the utility profit grab would cost California tens of billions over time and each ratepayer $295 a year.
California is and has always been a solar state. Utility proposals are out of step with the deep popularity of rooftop solar in the golden state. In addition to massive cost increases for California ratepayers, the utility profit grab would undermine California’s clean energy goals and take our station from leading the nation in expanding solar in working- and middle-class neighborhoods to a solar unfriendly state where clean energy is accessible only to the rich.