There may again be a proliferation of solar panels in California, the cleanest, greenest state in the Union, after its Supreme Court ruled in favor of homeowners.
In August, the justices asked a lower court to take another look at a decision in which it “upheld reduced payments to solar panel owners for selling excess power back to utility companies,” LAist reported.
In 2022, state regulators cut the money homeowners could earn for their excess electricity by 75%.
The Center for Biological Diversity, The Protect Our Communities Foundation, and the Environmental Working Group sued, arguing the attempt to even out utility bills for everyone did not consider consumer benefits and low-income communities.
This third iteration of the net energy metering program paid homeowners for utilities’ avoided costs rather than the retail rate. Because people who joined the program before April 2023 still could receive the latter, higher remittance, utility commissioners said it “created an unfair cost burden on customers,” per LAist.
As a result, there was an 82% decrease in rooftop solar installation connection requests, and industry jobs were expected to plummet by 17,000 in the first year of the change, according to the public media outlet.
The state Supreme Court told the Court of Appeal to “determine whether the [Public Utilities Commission] exceeded its authority with the new policy,” CBS News reported.
“They basically said the lower court kind of punted on the whole substance of the [solar payments] decision,” Bernadette Del Chiaro, vice president for California at the Environmental Working Group, said, per LAist. “I do think they’re clearly stating this needs to be reviewed.”
Installing solar panels is the best way to save money on energy. It also significantly lowers a household’s production of planet-warming pollution. EnergySage has free tools you can use to get quick estimates and compare quotes.
The independent clean energy platform saves the average person up to $10,000 on the purchase and installation of a solar system. Its mapping tool shows the cost of a home setup in each state in addition to available incentives.
Pairing solar panels with a heat pump or other electric appliance will further reduce your utility costs. EnergySage has a free heat pump quote comparison tool so you can find the right unit and installer for your home and budget.
As many Californians know, solar panels are the ultimate home energy hack because they can bring your cost of energy down to or near $0. Since heat pumps and other electric appliances are ultra-efficient, using the sun’s energy to power them compounds the advantages. Mitsubishi is another company that can help you find the right affordable heat pump.
With help from clean energy advocates, Golden Staters could get back on track after the setback at the hands of the utility regulators.
“For too long, they really have operated in a black box behind a shroud of complexity,” Del Chiaro added. “Consumers and the planet have consistently lost out as a result of that.”
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