CALIFORNIA—CALSSA executive director Brad Heavner released the following statement on Assembly Bill 942 (Calderon), which would break net metering agreements with solar users – likely in violation of federal law – by reducing their net metering term from twenty to ten years:
Assembly Bill 942, authored by a former utility lobbyist, would break a promise to more than one million solar users and threaten California’s clean energy future.
Solar users, who are now mostly working and middle class families, relied on a contract with the state when they spent or borrowed money to invest in solar. They did so to save money for their families and help the planet, with the added benefit of reducing strain and demand on the energy grid.
If legislators want to get serious about controlling skyrocketing energy rates, they need to focus on the real cause: out of control utility spending. Utility spending on poles and wires increased by 130 to 260 percent over the past 8 to 12 years. As utility spending increased, so did rates, and at almost exactly the same pace. During that time electricity demand in California remained flat, in part because of rooftop solar.
The reason utilities spend so much, even when they do not need to, is because they are guaranteed a profit margin of approximately 10% on every dollar they spend on grid infrastructure projects.
Rather than offer consumers actual solutions, utilities want to point fingers at their favorite scapegoat: rooftop solar. Utilities push sham research to say solar increases costs on non-solar consumers. In reality, accurate research, backed by a noteworthy group of energy and economics experts, shows that solar users saved all energy consumers $1.5 billion dollars in 2024 due to decreased load on the grid and other shared benefits.
California’s future depends on efficient, affordable, local, clean energy. We need to reject the utility-driven narrative of blaming solar consumers and instead encourage more people to go solar.
For more, read CALSSA’s recent report on the drivers of utility rate increases and how solar reduces costs for all energy consumers.
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