The policy, which took effect April 15, significantly slashes the credit new solar users get for sharing extra solar energy with the grid.
This appeal to the state Supreme Court says the California Court of Appeal’s decision ignored state law, which requires the court to review the commission’s decisions as it would those of any state agency.
The appeals court failed to apply its own judgment in reviewing the commission’s net-metering policy. Instead, the three-judge panel said it was deferring to the commission because a “deferential standard of review leaves no basis for faulting the Commission’s work.”
The new new-metering policy slashes customer credits by up to 80% for electricity generated on rooftops and sold back to the grid, which reduces the financial benefit of installing solar systems. This has crushed efforts to expand rooftop solar in California, particularly in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, and led to huge layoffs in the solar industry.
It also violates state law, which requires that any policies ensure the rooftop solar market keeps growing, particularly in environmental justice communities. The net energy metering rollback also goes against the United States’ recent global agreement at COP28 to triple renewable energy by 2030.
For-profit utilities across the country are trying to gut rooftop solar programs because distributed energy resources, like rooftop solar, threaten the utility business model.