Net Metering and Rooftop Solar for California
What is "net metering" and why should you care?
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) allows California residential and small building owners who install solar panels to get credit on their electricity bills for sending the excess renewable power they don't use back to the electricity grid for others to use. The metaphor is that their electric meter "spins backwards."
This statewide clean energy credit program, called net metering, has helped install more than 100,000 solar energy systems on homes, businesses, schools, libraries, and other buildings around the state.
What is at stake?
The original California net metering policy put a limit on the amount of solar installation that could take advantage of the bill credit. Beyond that cap, there's no guarantee that utilities will continue to allow new solar customers to net meter.
California's law sets the limit at "five percent of aggregate customer peak demand," but does not specify how utilities should calculate that number. Some utilities are using a more restrictive methodology that results in almost half the amount of net metering than the original law intended.
The CPUC has proposed a new definition of how to set the limit that would allow more Californians to get the benefits of net metering, which would help ensure continued growth of rooftop solar around the state (and the jobs needed to install the new panels).
What do I need to do?
Take action today and urge the CPUC to vote yes on fair net metering by adopting the proposed decision issued in Rulemaking 10-05-004.
