As rooftop solar panels become more popular and affordable, the California Public Utilities Commission is poised to make a change that some worry would disincentivize potential future customers from installing them.
A group called Environment California held a virtual news conference Thursday to protest what they are calling a proposed"tax" that could be levied against future"The thought that we're going to start getting fined basically for doing what we've been asked to do is just outrageous," said Geoff Kors, a member of the Palm Springs City Council."And that needs to be revisited and changed.
The group is specifically opposed to a plan by the CPUC to add a fee that would cost the average future solar panel owner $57 per month. In addition, they're upset that the CPUC is considering reducing the credits a customer would receive for putting electricity - made from their panels - back on the grid by around 80%.
"The last thing we should do is make rooftop solar more expensive so only the wealthy can afford it," said Cailey Underhill, a member of the Solar Rights Alliance."Yet that's exactly what the utilities will do." Underhill said a similar plan that was proposed in the state legislature failed last year, and this is the next attempt to eliminate a solar incentive program called net energy metering.
But while opponents of the CPUC's plan argue that it would hurt lower-income families and those on fixed incomes the most, that's the same argument being made by those in favor of the CPUC's plan.
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