Solar advocates rallied Thursday in San Diego and nine other California cities to tell utility regulators they disapprove of a proposed rooftop solar plan.
Energy consumers, climate change activists and solar workers gathered outside the church of St Stephen in Christ. Protesters gathered to support a change in the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) plan to rewrite the state's Clean Energy Metering (NEM) rules.
These regulations determine the cost of electricity generated from solar roofs.
An overcast sky hung over normally sunny San Diego, just as clouds hung over a CPUC proposal made last month.
"We are in a climate crisis, and often the communities involved are the ones who suffer and suffer the most," Bishop George Dallas McKinney said in his churchyard in Southeast San Diego. "Cutting off access to clean energy now is atrocious."
State regulators dropped the most burdensome part of the first rule rewrite proposal last December.
Higher mandatory fees for technology connectivity were not included in the revised plan unveiled last month. But the new proposal calls for a significant reduction in the cost of electricity generated from rooftops and sold back into the grid.
"This will reduce the cost of solar power by 75% overnight, as well as increase utility costs starting next year," said Danica Tomayo of the San Diego Weather 350 Group.
Solar advocates are pushing for the commission to adopt a plan closer to existing regulations.
They say making solar available to low- and moderate-income residents will help the state meet aggressive goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But California's investor-owned utilities have long campaigned to replace the existing NEM system.
Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have agreed to a plan very similar to the one introduced a year ago.
This includes a mandatory monthly grid connection fee and a sharp reduction in the amount utilities must pay solar homeowners for the electricity they sell to the grid.
This plan was heavily criticized and rejected a month later.
Although the facilities have not publicly commented on the issue, the organizers' reports and hearings make their position clear. Energy companies argue that the cost of the solar subsidy sneaks into the bills of customers who don't have solar panels.
"The current program is designed to primarily hurt Californians, low-income seniors, renters and people who don't have access to solar. Cathy Fairbanks of Affordable Clean Energy. Cost for All, a utility-funded organization: "Homeowners who can roof solar panels can be affordable."
Utilities argue that the cost passed on to non-solar customers is unfair, and continue to push for a plan that removes much of the financial benefit from adding solar panels to consumers.
Solar advocates say the rule changes outlined in the CPUC proposal would hamper the nation's most successful solar industry.
About 1.5 million homes in California are equipped with solar panels.
The CPUC intends to review the matter at its December 15 meeting and may adopt, modify or reject the plan.
