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California Utilities Plan All Out War On Solar, Please Read And Help

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Would like to see an analysis of what grid connectivity/delivery/maintenance charges should be in a system where fair accounting is used.

If the utilities are truly losing significant amounts of money on generation fees, then those fees are usurious to begin with and/or everyone is not paying a fair share of grid connectivity/delivery/maintenance charges.

It's hard to see the grid as being less valuable to residential non-solar customers than residential solar PV customers. Why non-solar residential customers shouldn't pay at least the same minimum delivery fee seems bizarre and counterproductive. But that's politics.
 
Hi Everyone
The rumor is that AB1139 will be voted on tomorrow. Over the long weekend, local activists in LA organized a pop-up protest in front of co-author Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo home. There were about 20 people with signs and one referring to her as a puppet. Also over the weekend, 600 people made calls to their Assemblymember. So if you haven't called your Assemblymember now would be the time to do that. The coalition has grown from 60 to over 100 organizations throughout CA.

If the bill does pass, it will move onto the CA state Senate. Starting next Monday or Tuesday of next week, Bob the Monopoly guy will be on tour for the next 3 weeks. He will start in San Diego and work his way north. He will visit each CA senate district, where a small group of people will be protesting at a home with rooftop solar, a Solar Rights member living in that area will make a speech, and media will be asked to attend. Pictures of the event will be posted somewhere, when I have that information, I will let you all know.

While Monopoly Bob is doing his thing, Solar Rights Alliance and CALSSA will be sending out emails to people living in the area that Bob will be visiting.
We will also text people living in the area Bob is visiting asking if they can join the rally.

Thank you to all and any of you who have made calls to your assembly members and/or Governor Newsom.

Don't know who Bob the Monopoly guy is?? See the picture below.
Ladies and Gents!! Introducing Bob the Monopoly guy!!!

View attachment 668576
Maybe a Solar Bill of Rights ballot proposition would be useful to cut this nonsense short. The right to self-consume your solar energy shall not be infringed or taxed.
 
Solar killing AB1139 stopped!
It ain’t over till it’s over, and it ain’t over yet. That said, I think all of you who had helped out deserve a well-earned pat on the back! Achieving a tie vote, and thus blocking, at least for the time being, the steamrolling AB 1139, is an epic achievement! For NOW, AB1139 is dead but it could come back as a gutted, amended bill, but we will cross that bridge when it happens. This is truly a grass-roots-David versus utility-Goliath story.
I can't say it enough but THANK YOU, EVERYONE, for helping in what ever way you did to get this bill killed for now. It was an interesting vote
Ayes Count 27
Noes Count 27
NVR Count 25
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I think it was a tactical on their part to try to remove the grandfathering of current NEM customers. This bill might have snuck through if that wasn't part of the bill. I wouldn't be surprised if a revised form of this bill without retroactive NEM impact tries to fly under the radar in the future.
 
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I received a reply from my state senator, Josh Becker, on this issue. It is quoted below.

Thank you for contacting my office to in opposition to AB 1139, legislation that would have made changes to the state’s net energy metering contracts and tariffs.

AB 1139 was rejected in a vote by the Assembly earlier this week and will not be given further consideration this year. Since the bill failed in the Assembly, I did not have the opportunity to vote on the measure.

Please continue to keep me apprised of your views on other issues of concern to you. You’re always welcome to contact me at (650) 212-3313 or communicate with me online at http://sd13.senate.ca.gov/ if I can be of assistance to you.

Since it didn't make it to the Senate, I was surprised that his office bothered to communicate with me about it. My assemblyman did not give any response even though I submitted my feedback to his office in a similar manner as I did my state senator.
 
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SoCal Edison) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) – are pushing for dramatic changes in the net metering policies that have helped the state become the nation’s leader in rooftop solar adoption. The utilities’ proposal would create the nation’s highest fixed charges for solar customers while slashing net metering payments. The changes would severely hamper the state’s solar market at a moment when the state must accelerate clean energy deployment to meet its climate and energy goals. The California Public Utilities Commission is expected to rule on the future of net metering in the state near the end of 2021.

Thursday 06/24 California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to cook the books on rooftop solar.
Despite another notable display of grassroots support for solar, the CPUC unanimously approved changes to the methodology they use to calculate the value of rooftop solar, as compared to large-scale renewable energy. The changes reduce the value of rooftop solar down to 1/3 of the previous value, and sets the stage for the CPUC to gut net metering later this year.
350 Bay Area and the Indivisible Green Team helped mobilize dozens of people to provide well-informed testimony against the change, and leaders also spoke from Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, the School Energy Choice Coalition, Local Clean Energy Alliance, CA Alliance for Clean Energy, Sunrise Movement, San Diego Green New Deal Alliance, Center for Community Energy, Clean Coalition, Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, CA Democratic Party Environmental Caucus, Environment California and several others.
Meanwhile, over 7,000 people submitted a written comment against the change.
The CPUC won't make a final decision on net metering until the end of the year. But there's no doubt our fight just got harder. That said, we have always known that the CPUC are unelected, unaccountable political appointees and that Governor Newsom will be the real decider in this fight. This week's CPUC decision clarifies that.
1) Get 200,000 public comments to the Governor tell him to keep solar growing and reject the Utility Profit Grab. Over 30,000 people have already done so. Now we must step it up. Folks can use the Save California Solar online petition, host their own, collect comments on paper - whatever works for you.
2) Flood his phone lines. Gathering those public comments is just the first step. We must then mobilize our supporters to make phone calls to the Governor - by the hundreds, every week, through the summer and fall. As with the above, use the Save California Solar phone tool, or organize your own phone action days.

Links and info can be found at Save California Solar