Azizza Davis Goines
With so many families and small businesses struggling to make ends meet, policymakers and regulators must ensure California achieves its clean energy objectives at the least possible cost for all, and particularly for the most vulnerable populations.
One policy that flies in the face of that objective is our state’s rooftop solar subsidy program called Net Energy Metering, or NEM. The program is overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission and regulates the credits, or financial incentives, given to homeowners to put rooftop solar on their homes.
The outdated, 25-year-old program is contributing to higher electric rates across California and increasing the bills of customers without solar, including small businesses, renters, low-income Californians and seniors on fixed incomes, by roughly $3 billion a year. This cost shift is not consistent with state law and needs to be fixed.