A separate bill, AB 2256, would order the CPUC to restructure its policies by running an independent cost-benefit analysis of the role rooftop and distributed solar can play in achieving the state’s clean energy goals.
Authored by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D) and supported by nonprofit groups including Environment California, the Center for Biological Diversity and Environmental Working Group, AB 2256 would require that the CPUC consider a number of values these groups say were left out of its net-metering analysis, including improved local air and water quality, avoided land-use impacts and other “non-economic” benefits.
California’s big three investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, are the primary opponents of these bills.