Hi Folks,
Forwarding this email from the indefatigable Igor Tregub.
If you're like me, you probably also waffled re: the proposed NEM3.0 rules in California. On the one hand -- yes, under current net metering rules, home owners who are getting paid back for their *average* cost of electricity for power produced in the middle of the day, when it's cheapest, are getting a pretty good deal. And this deal *is* financed by people who do not have solar on their homes -- in effect, a wealth transfer from the less wealthy home owners to the more wealthy ones, since it's the wealthy who tend to have rooftop solar.
On the other hand, I think it should be possible to fix the rates without also creating a giveaway to utilities, in the form of interconnection fees. For our newly installed system at Chrysalis, it would be more than $100 per month, just for HAVING the solar panels! This is madness -- it will destroy the rooftop solar industry in California and cement the power of the investor-owned utilities like PG&E.
Although I cannot make the in-person rally on Thursday, I plan to call the governor every day for the next two weeks.
--igor
----- Forwarded message from Igor Tregub itregub@gmail.com -----
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2022 13:26:00 -0800 From: Igor Tregub itregub@gmail.com To: undisclosed-recipients: ; Subject: THURSDAY 1/13: Our Last, Best Chance to Save Solar in CA - LA, SF, and from Your Home! X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.5 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,FREEMAIL_FROM,HTML_FONT_SIZE_LARGE, HTML_MESSAGE,HTTPS_HTTP_MISMATCH,MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H3,RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_WL,SPF_HELO_NONE,URIBL_GREY autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
Dear friends,
I hope the new year finds you and yours well and safe.
As you may have heard, rooftop solar is under attack. Whether you’re a rooftop solar owner, plan to go solar in the next couple of years, or just think local and community solar plays an integral role in fighting climate change: solar needs you.
Action 1: [1]Call the CA Public Utilities Commission Thursday 1/13 at 9:40 am (meeting starts at 10 am but get on the line early). Details immediately below and talking points are at the bottom of this email.
Date 01/13/2022 Time 10:00 AM (please sign on by 9:40 am if possible) Location Remote access only via webcast or phone Call-in-Number (800) 857-1917 Participant 9899501# PASSCODE Contact email [2]VotingMeetingHelp@cpuc.ca.gov or call (415) 703-5263 Webcast [3]http://www.adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc
[cleardot]
Action 2: Every day for next 2 weeks: Call the Governor at 916-445-2841 and say something along these lines: I am against the proposed Solar Penalty Fee! Nobody should pay a penalty for putting solar panels on their roof and California should be doing more, not less, to promote rooftop solar. Please show us you are serious about rate hikes, blackouts and air pollution. Say no to the utilities’ profit grab, and yes to helping millions of working and middle class people get solar.
You can also email the Governor [4]here.
Action 3: [5]Can you show up this Thursday, Jan. 13 at 11 AM? We’re rallying at California PUC offices in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. COVID protocols will be followed. Please wear a mask.
Action 4: Write an op-ed opposing the Net Energy Metering 3.0 Proposed Decision and submit it to your local paper.
The Background (hat tip to Climate Hawks Vote for developing the background below (slight updates from me).
Last month the California Public Utilities Commission released a proposed decision that would gut rooftop solar in California. The fees imposed on rooftop solar owners would make California one of the three most expensive states in the nation for rooftop solar - joining Alabama and worse than West Virginia and Mississippi. It’s a horrible, shocking decision, long sought by the big corporate utilities (PG&E, SoCal Edison, and Sempra/ SDG&E).
If you don’t already have rooftop solar, you might not have been following the details. Solar homeowners get credits for the electricity they sell back to the grid, known as net energy metering. The corporate utilities hate giving that credit and claim that the cost shift (a term they invented) means that they have to raise rates on non-solar customers. Climate hawks know the real reasons they raise rates – payouts to wildfire victims, bankruptcy lawyers, and their CEOs’ excessive salaries.
This is nothing more than a corporate money-grab: to keep their profits high, I mean un-shift the costs, the investor-owned utilities want to impose a new penalty on rooftop solar owners.
The proposed decision - a near-carbon copy of what PG&E requested - would tax rooftop solar owners $57/ month and decimate the solar industry. Simply put, it would be so expensive to go solar in California that no one would do it, during a climate crisis hitting California hard. It’s mind bogglingly short-sighted and slams the brakes on our state's climate leadership, at just the time when the Biden Administration [6]has said we need to increase solar adoption by 40%. Even the Governor yesterday said this proposal is flawed and "needs work." According to CalMatters, he also "said 'changes need to be made' to [7]state regulators’ controversial proposal to reform a wildly successful rooftop solar incentive program." (Please be sure to thank him).
Thanks for standing up to save CA solar!
In solidarity,
Igor
Disclaimer: I am an employee of the CA Solar and Storage Association
Talking Points for Your 1 Minute at the CA Public Utilities Commission
1) Your name and where you live 2) Your org (if applicable) 3) I ask you to listen to the Governor and reject the Net Energy Metering 3.0 Proposed Decision. Instead, please:
● Keep local and community solar and battery storage growing in California, so that millions of working and middle class people can get solar in the coming years - both homeowners and renters.
● Don't buy the utility lie that rooftop solar is costing other people money. Rooftop solar is reducing the cost of long-distance power lines - the real reason for high rates, blackouts and wildfires.
4) In your own words, one of the following arguments to back up your request (you pick, but remember you only have 1 minute):
a. Consumers should be able to control their energy bills: We're getting socked with endless rate hikes. Consumers should be able to control their energy bills and not be penalized for it, especially if we are expected to switch to electric cars and appliances.
b. Power outages: Local rooftop solar and battery storage is the best and proven way for people to protect themselves from power outages. This is especially important for people with disabilities, medical issues, and those whose budgets are devastated when a week's worth of groceries spoils.
c. Promoting local solar creates well-paying jobs: Rooftop solar and battery storage projects are one of the best "shovel-ready" job creators out there. Rooftop solar offers lots of local jobs in every community that cannot be outsourced. Promoting local solar saves all ratepayers money whether or not they have solar. Rooftop solar reduces the cost of long-distance power lines, and can save every ratepayer $300/year for the next thirty years if we keep it growing.
d. Climate change: California will not meet its climate change goals if we back off from rooftop solar. The state itself says we need to triple the amount of solar to get off fossil fuels - both large scale and rooftop solar. We can't do that with large scale renewables alone. At this time, when it is so urgent to get more clean energy on the grid of all forms, why would we nickel and dime rooftop solar??
e. Open space: California can't meet its goals of protecting 30% of the last remaining open spaces without a lot more rooftop solar. Rooftop solar reduces the need to develop large solar and wind farms and transmission lines, and will save an area half the size of LA. Let's be smart about how we transition to clean energy and utilize our rooftops!
References
“Unpacking California’s Controversial New Rooftop Solar Proposal,” Inside Climate News
[8]https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16122021/ inside-clean-energy-california-rooftop-solar-policy/
“Everything you need to know about California’s plan to slash solar incentives,” Los Angeles Times
[9]https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-12-16/ california-plan-to-cut-solar-incentives-boiling-point
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References:
[1] https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/events-and-meetings/cpuc-voting-meeting-01-13-2022 [2] mailto:VotingMeetingHelp@cpuc.ca.gov [3] http://www.adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc [4] https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/ [5] https://click.everyaction.com/k/40576727/324973077/-1778032769?nvep=ew0KICAi... [6] https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-solar-futures-study-providing-b... [7] https://calmatters.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5f4af3af825368013c58e4... [8] https://click.everyaction.com/k/40576729/324973080/-2045318975?nvep=ew0KICAi... [9] https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-12-16/california-plan-to... [10] mailto:berkeleyclimate+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com [11] https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/berkeleyclimate/CAHdPQY4s0HA-X5D=PPJQaUHYc...
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