Friedman Introduces Bill to Bring Affordability and Jobs Back to Rooftop Solar

SACRAMENTO— Solar energy accounts for 27% of California’s electricity production. That demand is expected to grow by 80% as homes, businesses, and vehicles move away from fossil fuels for sources of heat and energy and toward electrification. That skyrocketing demand makes solar energy the linchpin in California’s transition to renewable energy. With California’s energy future at stake, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) drastically re-wrote its Net Energy Metering (NEM) Policy.

In defiance of guidance previously provided by the Legislature, the CPUC slashed financial incentives to devastating effect. After the CPUC’s NEM-3 policies went into place, solar installations plummeted by 80%.

“That decline puts our state’s progress at risk at a time when we must rapidly and expansively build out our solar grid to meet California’s decarbonization goals,” says Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Burbank).

The California Air Resources Board has projected that we need to double the amount of rooftop solar in California to allow us to meet our climate targets of 90% by 2035 and 100% by 2045.

“The commission’s misguided NEM-3 policy has completely stifled the adoption of rooftop solar in California, especially for the state’s working-class families,” says Steven King, environmental advocate for Environment California.

“California is ground zero for the climate emergency. It’s outrageous to be slow-walking our renewable energy transition when we need to be racing toward it,” said Assemblymember Laura Friedman.

The exponential growth of solar that California is counting on to meet its climate goals will never be possible if NEM-3 is left untouched. Electricity generating customers prior to NEM-3 would generate their own electricity. That electricity would be added to the grid and sold. Solar customers, in turn received a credit. NEM-3 directly counteracted that credit by creating a billing tariff. It is that billing tariff that resulted in the credits solar customers received being reduced on average by 75%.

Assemblymember Laura Friedman has put forward AB 2256 to rectify the situation and return California’s solar policies to a semblance of normal. AB 2256 will require the CPUC to once again take the state’s climate needs, solar affordability, and other social benefits of solar into account when it sets its new solar policy.

It is no accident that eliminating solar’s affordability essentially eliminated solar in California. For both our consumers, rate payers, and our climate, AB 2256 is a must-pass bill. 

Amendments to AB 2256 that fully outline the requirements for the CPUC are expected in the coming weeks.  The bill will have its first hearing in April.

Raptors Are The Solution (“RATS”) is a nonprofit project of Earth Island Institute that educates people about the dangers of rat poison in the food web and the ecological role of birds of prey.

Laura Friedman represents 44th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Los Angeles, as well as the communities of La Crescenta, Lake View Terrace, Montrose, North Hollywood, Shadow Hills, Sherman Oaks, Sunland-Tujunga, Studio City, Toluca Lake, and Valley Village.