Update on state legislature bills to get rooftop solar growing again
If you live in or near Sacramento and can attend any of these meetings, let Cailey know.
[email protected]
Link for information, links to bills and possible talking points
These bills will be heard at State Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications. Committee Hearing Date: 04/16/24
SB-938 Electrical and gas corporations: rate recovery: political activities and advertising. Would prohibit private utilities from lobbying with ratepayer funds.
These bills will be heard at the State Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications. Committee Hearing Date: 04/22/24
SB-1374 Net energy metering: (Becker) would restore the right of renters, farmers, and schools to make and consume their own solar energy, a right that the state took away from these folks last year.
SB 1305 Electricity: virtual power plant procurement.(Stern) would require utilities to treat their customers with both solar and batteries as a “Virtual Power Plant”, and purchase the electricity from them in the same way they would a solar farm in the desert. This has the potential to reduce the need for giant solar farms and their expensive long-distance power lines. This could save ratepayers as much as $120 billion over the next thirty years.
For more information on other bills being heard at the meeting,
here's the link
Bills heard at Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications
Hearing date: 04/17/24
AB-2619 Net energy metering. (Connolly) would ban solar taxes and require the CPUC to revise their net metering decision to align with the state’s actual clean energy goals.
AB1999 might be heard on April 17th Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications. Stay tuned
AB2054 Passed in Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications on 04/01/24. pass as amended and re-refer to Committee on Appropriations
Bill location but no hearing date
AB 2256 (Friedman) would require the CPUC to include all the benefits of rooftop solar when deciding how much credit solar users get. Passed to Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications. Not scheduled for a hearing
AB 3118 (Wallis) would make solar the “official state energy” of California, the same way the poppy is our state flower. Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications. Not scheduled for a hearing
There have been many articles on How did regulators decide on the fixed charge amount?
The $24.15 fee was benchmarked to the fixed infrastructure charge currently used by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). So it seems there was once again no analysis by the CPUC and just pulled the amount out of thin air, thinking this will fly. Many of the articles published online and news outlets seem to think this is fine. But it's not
I have sent out tweets directly to many news outlets who have missed the point and have said:
Even at $24 per month, the #UtilityTax would increase bills for millions of working people.
The article failed to say AB 1999 caps the utility tax back at $10/month, allowing it to increase at the inflation rate. Rates never go down, only up