UTILITIES’ SNEAK ATTACK ON CA SOLAR

‘Sneaky’ PV net-Metering Proposal Slipped Into California Legislation

Jessica Lillian, 5 July 2012 (Solar Industry)

“After months of intensive lobbying to ensure maximum solar net-metering availability, California's solar sector came close to seeing its efforts undone - courtesy of a quietly introduced bill sponsored by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).

“In May, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted unanimously in favor of a net-metering calculation method that, by some estimates, would boost California's PV installation potential by 2.4 GW to 5.2 GW…However, A.B.2514 - which was initially developed as a bill designed to simply study net-metering's impacts - morphed late last month into legislation that would allow the utilities to revert to their preferred, more-restrictive method of calculating their 5% net-metering cap….”

“Implementing A.B.2514 as proposed - thus undoing CPUC's decision - would cut California's solar net-metering potential in half, according to [advocacy group] Vote Solar…[T]he careful timing of the net-metering amendment - just before the July 4th holiday - was designed to allow it to slip through…

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“Despite the timing, which Vote Solar criticized as ‘sneaky,’ a range of solar companies, school districts and agricultural firms responded and spoke out against A.B.2514…[and] the Solar Energy Industries Association and Sierra Club California registered their formal opposition to the bill unless it was amended.

“The solar sector's efforts were successful, as the legislation reverted - for now, at least - to its original scope, calling only for studies of net-metering programs…The legislation's next stop is the appropriations committee…A.B.2514 could still threaten PV deployment in California. The net-metering studies that the legislation orders the CPUC to conduct may not be entirely fair to the solar market…[A.B.2514 requires the analysis] to include the amount of electricity produced and used by PV system owners, even if that electricity is not fed into the grid…”

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