California reduces incentives for solar generation on roofs to avoid favoring the rich

California households with solar panels will receive less credit for exporting excess energy to the grid, utility regulators decided in a vote on Thursday, saying the move would be fairer for California taxpayers. low income and still maintain a healthy solar industry.

For decades, Californians with roof panels have been credited for excess energy generated at or near the full retail electricity rate.

The unanimous vote of the five members of the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) reduced the rate, which will be determined by the cost the utility would have spent to buy clean energy elsewhere. Rates vary by dealership and time of day.

The decision is a blow to the state’s solar companies, which have said the new policy would slow installations and hurt California’s clean energy goals.

Proponents say this incentive was crucial to combating climate change, but critics say it unfairly favored only those rich enough to afford solar power.

“This decision is significantly fairer than the status quo,” CPUC Chair Alice Reynolds said ahead of the vote.

The new policy, first proposed last month, amends the so-called “net metering” policy and will take effect in the first half of next year.

It will offer new credits for battery-combined systems, which allow homes to hold excess energy in reserve when demand is low and then feed the grid after dark, when solar energy resources stop producing, but demand is high.

The vote was being watched across the country because policies made in California often serve as a model for other states looking to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy.