“Under the CPUC’s leadership California is responsible for the largest loss of solar jobs in our nation’s history”
The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) shared a new breakdown of recent solar job losses, showing the impact is being felt in every part of California.
Media note: Representatives from solar businesses experiencing hardships from around the state are available for interviews. A county-by-county breakdown of solar job loss is available by request.
Just over seven months ago the Governor Newsom-appointed California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) made drastic reductions to Net Energy Metering — the program responsible for reducing the costs of going solar and making California a solar leader — by slashing the value of solar energy shared back to the grid by solar homes and businesses by 70-80% overnight. At the same time, the Commission and Governor Newsom promised to provide incentives for energy storage to help soften the blow but these incentives have yet to materialize or be fulfilled.
Since the CPUC’s decision, the solar industry is experiencing devastating results in the form of business closures and depression-level layoffs at a time when California should be celebrating a golden age of clean energy growth.
A survey of California solar and storage companies found 17,000 jobs have or will be lost by the end of 2023 due the recent net metering changes. The massive job loss represents 22% of all solar jobs in California. CALSSA’s new breakdown of the survey numbers estimate no part of California is spared from the pain of solar job losses.
“All over California we are seeing the grim reality of how the CPUC’s cuts to solar are taking livelihoods away from thousands of families,” said CALSSA Executive Director Bernadette Del Chiaro. “No one would expect a supposed climate leader like California to be pulling the plug on green jobs and our fastest and most accessible path to a clean energy future. But that is where we are today. Under the CPUC’s leadership California is responsible for the largest loss of solar jobs in our nation’s history.”
Despite the consequences, the CPUC continues to move in the wrong direction on solar. In November, the CPUC voted to stifle the growth of solar again, this time making solar unaffordable for multimeter properties like schools, farms, small businesses, and apartments.
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