But then, last spring, he heard that a neighbor had decided to accelerate their solar project. Other homeowners in the area were rushing to get in line, too.
“I don’t think I fully understood the scope of it, but I had people telling me, ‘You better get going, get your solar now,’” Kennedy said. “It seemed like a bunch of tomfoolery was coming down.”
Kennedy’s neighbors and other consumers were reacting to a profound policy shift in California: The state Public Utilities Commission in late 2022 slashed by about 75% the rate that utilities pay homeowners with new solar panels when they sell surplus power to the grid. The rate structure went into effect for solar applicants beginning last April.
The state’s decision has caused consumer demand for residential solar to plummet since the new rate took effect. Solar companies say they’ve been shoved to the edge of a cliff, forcing them to lay off workers or even shut down.
I (non-Californian) only ever got the “fuel avoidance” payback for what I put in the grid. And with batteries it was still a nice short payback time period, even with sub $0.20/kWh rates.
The CA solar market should recover once the hangover from this wears off.
Yup. Newsom’s PUC appointees colluded with PG&E and other utilities they’re supposed to regulate on behalf of the ratepayers to make homeowners’ investment in solar no longer pay for itself within a reasonable time frame. They also waived a hefty fine PG&E owed as a result of the entirely preventable wildfires.
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But then, last spring, he heard that a neighbor had decided to accelerate their solar project. Other homeowners in the area were rushing to get in line, too.
“I don’t think I fully understood the scope of it, but I had people telling me, ‘You better get going, get your solar now,’” Kennedy said. “It seemed like a bunch of tomfoolery was coming down.”
Kennedy’s neighbors and other consumers were reacting to a profound policy shift in California: The state Public Utilities Commission in late 2022 slashed by about 75% the rate that utilities pay homeowners with new solar panels when they sell surplus power to the grid. The rate structure went into effect for solar applicants beginning last April.
The state’s decision has caused consumer demand for residential solar to plummet since the new rate took effect. Solar companies say they’ve been shoved to the edge of a cliff, forcing them to lay off workers or even shut down.
I (non-Californian) only ever got the “fuel avoidance” payback for what I put in the grid. And with batteries it was still a nice short payback time period, even with sub $0.20/kWh rates.
The CA solar market should recover once the hangover from this wears off.
Yup. Newsom’s PUC appointees colluded with PG&E and other utilities they’re supposed to regulate on behalf of the ratepayers to make homeowners’ investment in solar no longer pay for itself within a reasonable time frame. They also waived a hefty fine PG&E owed as a result of the entirely preventable wildfires.