California’s solar wars are forcing low-income families to foot the bill | Opinion

Californians are struggling to keep up. From groceries to gas to child care, everyday costs are rising fast. But one of the most painful spikes has been hiding in plain sight: our electricity bills.

A big reason why those bills are climbing has nothing to do with how much power we use. Instead, it has to do with how much we’re forced to subsidize others who use the same grid.

It’s a classic California story of good intentions that resulted in unintended consequences. Back in 1995, the state was focused on expanding clean energy, especially solar power. One measure that was implemented, called net energy metering, created a new subsidy to incentivize installing rooftop solar on homes and businesses. With more Californians installing rooftop solar, more clean energy would feed into the grid, helping our state transition away from polluting energy sources.

So, how does the subsidy work? Individuals with rooftop solar are paid full retail rates for the energy they feed into the grid, lasting for 20 years. All other electricity users are forced to buy that power that gets sent to the grid.

The problem is, we’re in a very different place than we were 30 years ago. Rooftop solar exploded in popularity, costs for installing it have lowered by 70% and it takes only four to five years for these subsidies to pay off the initial investment, making rooftop solar the most expensive power on the grid.

The outdated system is now shifting billions of dollars’ worth of subsidies onto non-rooftop solar customers.

Last year, 10 million non-solar customers paid $8.5 billion to subsidize 1.6 million rooftop solar users. This cost shift has exploded — up 150% since 2021 — and now makes up as much as 27% of a non-solar customer’s electricity bill. That’s not fair, and it’s not sustainable.

Working families, renters and low-income households are footing the bill while wealthier homeowners get steep discounts.

That’s why Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, D-City of Industry, introduced Assembly Bill 942, which aims to finally begin fixing this imbalance. It doesn’t eliminate rooftop solar, nor does it change rates for new customers. Instead, it applies the same policy that new customers are subject to when a solar-equipped home is sold so that the new owner pays modern, fair rates.

AB 942 also ends bonus discounts, like the California Climate Credit, for solar customers who already benefit from subsidies.

Under these measures, AB 942 is projected to save Californians $3.6 billion on their electricity bills over the next two decades.

That’s important. Despite what the rooftop solar industry is claiming, utility companies do not profit from this legislation. In fact, AB 942 doesn’t put any money in the pockets of the utilities, it simply reduces how much non-solar ratepayers are forced to overpay.

When the California Public Utilities Commission updated this system for new solar installations in late 2022, the solar industry similarly said it would kill solar. That didn’t happen.

The commission has always had — and routinely uses — the authority to change utility rate programs. And rooftop solar owners will still enjoy significant savings even after transitioning to updated rates.

Unfortunately, instead of addressing the policy on the merits, the solar lobby has chosen a smear campaign. They’ve personally attacked Calderon for her past work at a utility company, ignoring the fact that her bill helps 10 million Californians — not corporate shareholders.

The industry’s latest argument is that rooftop solar customers should be able to sell their property for more because the new owner will keep getting solar subsidies. Not only is that unfair for other ratepayers and against the intention of incentivizing installing rooftop solar, but it means that sellers would still be able to profit from the improvements made and electricity savings.

AB 942 is backed by consumer advocates, labor unions, business groups and leading economists because it’s rooted in fairness. We can support clean energy and protect people from unaffordable energy bills.