California’s net metering program will continue for now, but it’s possible that it will change. While the California Solar Initiative, the program that supports the installation of solar systems on homes and businesses, continues to support the growth of the solar industry, the California Energy Commission is considering changes to net metering. The commission recently opened a docket to address the program.
California has been a leader in clean energy policy, and net metering is part of that.
California has yet to remove net metering entirely. Currently, there are several bills in the works that would terminate or reduce the value of your credit for excess solar energy produced. One proposal would end the credit for excess solar energy generated at your home, but restore it to your utility company for other uses. A second proposal would end the credit for excess solar energy generated at your home for 11 years, and the credit would continue to be available to your utility company after that.
Net metering allows customers who produce a lot of solar energy to sell excess energy back to the grid instead of paying them for energy they don’t use.
California’s 2020 budget includes a proposal to end net metering as of January 1, 2020. The proposed policy change has major impacts. First, it would require customers who have solar panels to pay a monthly fee for the right to connect to the grid. The proposal also would require the utilities to pay customers for excess energy they return to the grid.
But net metering programs are falling victim to the changing energy landscape.
California has been in the midst of a slow transition to a clean energy future for years. This transition has included several programs designed to support the growth of clean energy and energy efficiency. One of the most recent programs to undergo significant changes is California’s net metering program.
California has the third-most solar energy capacity in the country, which offers a decent amount of potential for net metering agreements.
California’s mandatory net metering program ended in 2020, however the state recently made an important change in regards to setting the value of the electricity that solar owners feed back to the grid. The California Solar and Storage Alliance (CALSSA) says that the new value of the electricity will be the lesser of the utility’s avoided cost or the price set by the California Energy Commission (CEC).
However, the amount of solar being installed is growing rapidly, and utilities don’t want to lose revenue.
Similar to how California’s investor-owned utilities can choose to offer net metering to customers with a solar PV system, it can also opt to end the practice. But the California Solar Energy Commission recently voted to maintain the status quo for the next five years.
More solar energy can mean less revenue for the utility companies.
California is currently party to 38 net metering programs. Under these programs, customers can generate solar energy and send excess power back to the grid. The utility company then credits the solar owner back at the end of the month for the amount of energy they’ve sent back.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is considering a weakening net metering program that would require consumers to pay more for solar energy.
Currently, California has a strong net metering program. Under net metering, homeowners can produce solar energy and sell the energy back to the utility grid at the same rate as they get it. If your solar panels produce more energy than you use in a day, you get credit on your bill for the energy your solar panels produce. If you use more energy than you produce, you get a bill for the difference.
Conclusion
California has been implementing solar programs for over 20 years, so the question “is California getting rid of net metering” is a bit of an oddball question. There have been proposals to do so, but homeowners have been able to subscribe to net metering programs since 2006. Currently, net metering programs are mandatory for California utilities who serve customers over 1000kW.
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