In conclusion
Justices instructed a lower court to reexamine their ruling to maintain 75% reductions in solar panel owners’ payments.
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In a decision that is thought to be crucial for the spread of rooftop solar power in California, the California Supreme Court today ruled with environmental organizations.
Justices unanimously instructed a lower court to reexamine a decision that maintained lesser compensation for solar panel owners who sold excess electricity back to utility providers. The court of appeals had to decide whether the modifications to the solar program were lawful because the justices did not make a decision on the matter.According to Bernadette Del Chiaro, vice president for California at the Environmental Working Group, they essentially indicated that the lower court kind of punted on the entirety of the [net metering] ruling. They seem to be saying rather plainly that this needs to be evaluated, in my opinion.The decision made by the commission in 2022 to cut net energy metering payments to solar panel owners by roughly 75% is under question. The goal of the modification was to promote the use of renewable energy sources while also making bills more affordable for all consumers. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Protect our Communities Foundation, and the Environmental Working Group were the three environmental organizations that filed the lawsuit. They contended that the utility commission’s ruling omitted important factors pertaining to the advantages for consumers and underprivileged communities.”If we have more local generation, we don’t need [to be in] an affordability crisis,” said Roger Lin, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Utilities paid solar users a retail rate for their excess energy under NEM 1 and NEM 2 program iterations. This is the same amount the utilities would charge other customers when they resold that energy. Under the most recent version of the program, NEM 3.0, this was altered. Instead, customers now receive the avoided cost, or the amount of money that utilities save by not purchasing that power on the wholesale market.
clients under the previous two versions will continue to receive the old rate for the term of their contracts, which is normally around 20 years, while clients who joined the program after mid-April 2023 will receive the new rate.
Power companies argued that previous iterations of the program unfairly burdened customers with costs, and utility commissioners decided in their favor. According to utilities, people without rooftop solar must pay more for regular grid maintenance than their counterparts. According to the organizations filing the complaint, this notion is exaggerated.A court of appeals ruling, based on a legal framework that accords the California Public Utilities Commission’s rulings considerable weight, affirmed the regulators’ conclusion.
The court of appeals erred in applying this criteria, according to Thursday’s ruling.
The lower courts will decide whether or not the modification to the way solar panel owners are compensated is lawful. However, the ruling this week might affect state utility regulators in more significant ways.The ruling, according to advocates, reaffirms the utilities commission’s obligation to make sure its rulings are completely compliant with the law.
Del Chiaro claimed that they had been functioning in a “black box” with a facade of complexity for far too long. As a result, consumers and the environment have continuously suffered.
Customers seeking connections for rooftop solar systems fell by 82% as a result of the utilities commission’s 2022 net metering ruling, and industry associations predicted that 17,000 jobs would be lost in the first year of the move.The story is still evolving.
CalMatters has further information.
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