Controversial solar energy bill draws broad coalition of opposition
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
‘DON’T BREAK SOLAR CONTRACTS’
A legislative effort to reform how solar panel owners can sell their power back to the grid has drawn a wide range of opponents, including consumer advocates and affordable housing groups.
Over 100 members of that coalition, primarily represented by homeowners and solar workers, lined 11th Street between the Swing Space and the Capitol in downtown Sacramento on Tuesday midday, urging passing lawmakers to kill Assembly Bill 942.
“Don’t break solar contracts,” AB 942 opponents shouted.
The bill, authored by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, D-Whittier, would move people currently on one of two programs that allows them to receive credit for additional solar energy generated from their home panels to a third, much-less generous, plan after 10 years, or immediately if someone sells their home.
Calderon and AB 942’s supporters argue that Californians who bought into solar years ago haven’t been paying their fair share of the costs associated with maintaining the electricity grid, including wildfire mitigation efforts.
The various critics said Tuesday that this proposal would break contracts that homeowners assumed would be in effect for 20 years, which is the length of agreements most solar consumers signed with utility companies like the Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
“People did a financial analysis based on this agreement,” said Chelsea Pavone, a Grass Valley homeowner who has worked in the solar industry for well over a decade.
Pavone said she helped hundreds of homeowners make the decision to go solar. But now, she said, lawmakers could renege on that deal and potentially “screw people over.”
The state shouldn’t alter an agreement that homeowners thought would be in place for 20 years, Pavone said. “This is about honoring contracts.”
Acknowledging the strong feelings on both sides of this bill, Calderon said in a statement that she believes her legislation will benefit the vast majority of Californians.
“I am supportive of rooftop solar. However, the current solar subsidy structure is imbalanced, unfair, and burdens those who can least afford it,” Calderon said.
Also opposed to the legislation is the California Association of Realtors, which argued in a letter sent to the lawmaker this month that the proposal would hurt lower- and middle-income households that invested in solar panels with the help of programs that reduced the initial financial barriers.
The association said AB 942 would “slice into the value of many working-class families’ home equity improvements involving solar.”
SNUBBED BY CONWAY
Via Lia Russell …
Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Kellyanne Conway to appear on his podcast, but the former Trump aide declined.
Conway, the former White House senior counselor turned TikTok lobbyist, appeared Monday at the Bay Area-Silicon Valley Summit hosted by the Bay Area Council in San Francisco. During a conversation on “Inside Trump World and What Makes MAGA Tick,” she said the governor had asked her to appear on “This Is Gavin Newsom,” but she “couldn’t do it on this trip to California.”
The governor also spoke later that afternoon at the summit. He has used his podcast platform to speak with other MAGA movement architects like strategist Steve Bannon to understand how Trump recaptured the White House in the 2024 election.
SOME NEW VOICES
The Bee’s Capitol Bureau grew by two temporarily on Tuesday. This summer, two reporting interns are joining us covering all things California politics. Here’s a brief introduction to the bureau’s newest members:
▪ Rebecca-Ann Jattan recently completed the journalism master’s program at Stanford University, where she also double majored in Human Biology and Communication as an undergraduate. Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, she sought to tell stories from the Caribbean and those of the diaspora in the United States. Throughout her time in the journalism program, she explored multimedia, broadcast and data journalism skills through stories about homelessness in California, culture and abortion rights. She previously worked on the California Reporting Project’s Community Law Enforcement Accountability Network. Rebecca looks forward to working with the politics team to keep Sacramento informed about the happenings of the Capitol.
▪ Originally from Sacramento, Molly Gibbs studies journalism and political science at the University of Missouri. She is passionate about local news and telling accurate and compelling stories. Previously, she worked for the Columbia Missourian covering state government and education. She is a 2025 White House Correspondents’ Association Scholar and hopes to cover local, state or national politics after graduating. Outside of work and school she enjoys running, playing card games, spending time outdoors and hanging out with family, friends and pets. Molly is excited to be back home working with The Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Bureau this summer.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If Newsom won’t protect fairness in women’s sports, Republicans will.”
— Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, commenting on President Donald Trump’s threat to withhold federal funding over California’s anti-discrimination law protecting transgender athletes.
Best of The Bee:
California changes rules around trans athletes after Trump’s threat to halt funding, via Lia Russell.
Donald Trump threatens California federal funding over trans athlete policy, via Lia Russell.
How California’s wealthiest people benefit most from the Republicans’ tax cut, via David Lightman.
What escaped cuts during tight state budget year? Government IT projects, via William Melhado.
This version of the A.M. Alert was updated after it was originally posted to include a statement from Assemblymember Lisa Calderon.
This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
