April 1, 2023 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

​​Column: No One Very Pleased as New Rooftop Solar Rules Improve

By Tom Elias, Columnist

Only rarely does the California Public Utilities Commission, long known as the least responsive agency in state government to consumer concerns, return to the drawing board once it proposes a problem “solution.”

That’s partly because when the utilities commission (the PUC) floats ideas, it is essentially proposing them to itself; the five commissioners charged with coming up with ideas are also the ones with the votes to impose them on every affected Californian.

So the new rooftop solar rules the commission proposed in November are very unusual: An almost completely reworked proposal that hopes to keep rooftop energy expanding, but also to bring more equity for electricity consumers unable to pay for rooftop solar or living in apartments, condominiums and other places not suited for it.

The originally proposed new rules, offered in late 2021, sought to cut payments by 80 percent to solar rooftop owners for excess power their panels generate which is sent to the overall state power grid, and thus increases renewable energy supplies for everyone.  They also aimed to charge rooftop solar owners a fee of about $60 per month for linking to the grid, which lets them draw power when solar linked storage batteries run dry.

Since most solar rooftop owners pay upwards of $20,000 for panels and installation in order to avoid monthly electric bills, this plan promised to cut installations vastly. That would put about 67,000 installer and manufacturing jobs at risk, while slowing California’s march toward 100 percent renewable electricity.

Consumer groups and solar rooftop owners howled. Soon, Gov. Gavin Newsom, who appoints PUC members to staggered six-year terms but cannot fire them once they’re confirmed by the state Senate, joined the chorus.

So, in a virtually unprecedented move, the commissioners pulled back their plan from the brink of adoption, promising to create a revised proposal.

The new plan would still cut what solar owners are paid for excess energy, but not as much. This is their sop to advocate for utility customers unable to afford or install rooftop solar. The new rules would apply mostly to new rooftop solar owners.

Some advocates for non-rooftop electric customers have complained they pay monthly to maintain the state’s grid, while solar owners who link to that grid for emergency use don’t help with that cost.

At the same time, the new plan eliminates the proposed $60 monthly fee.

So this is a compromise. It does not make anyone very happy, but was fair enough to avoid the kind of withering criticism that drew Newsom to oppose the previous proposal.

The new plan’s exact reduction in what each solar owner can get for excess power will be based on the state’s “avoided cost” calculator, which figures how much solar owners save on electric bills each month.

Rooftop solar advocates like the Oakland-based Center for Biological Diversity, concede the new plan is an improvement, but oppose the reductions in electricity prices paid to owners.

The avoided cost calculator, it says, “ignores many benefits of (solar returned to the grid)…such as (improved) grid reliability, reduction in greenhouse gas and air pollution and local economic benefits including job creation.”

That likely will not convince the commissioners, who appear bent on imposing their new plan in a scheduled Dec. 16 meeting.

And yet, the new plan is the first sign in many years that the PUC may occasionally listen to consumers, rather than only utility companies. The commission has been widely criticized for more than 50 years for favoring companies like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric over their customers.

This time, with all three of those companies firmly behind the original version of the new rooftop solar rules because it would have eliminated their payments to small solar owners, the PUC has bent a bit to a specific group of consumers, the residential solar owners.

That still leaves the PUC far short of looking after the interests of most utility customers, as the new responsiveness mainly benefits a group with above-average wealth.

Which makes the new solar metering plan an improvement, but does not lessen big doubts about the commission’s responsiveness.    

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, “The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It,” is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

Related Posts

Valuations for Office Buildings in L.A. Drop 39%

March 27, 2023

March 27, 2023

Transfer tax and low interest rates contributing to decline in L.A. office sales By Dolores Quintana In the city of...

Erewhon Joins Tenants in Fully Leased $150M Culver Steps Development

March 26, 2023

March 26, 2023

Amazon Studios and a ground-floor retail center, including the celebrity and influencer-favorite Erewhon, anchor the 122,000-square-foot complex By Dolores Quintana...

Mid-Century Modern “Dingbat” Style Six-Unit Property in La Cienega Heights Receives Major Renovations

March 26, 2023

March 26, 2023

VF Developments, LLC, in a joint venture with a private investor, repositioned and added capital improvements to bring back its...

Helio Seeks Approval for New Multifamily Development in Palms

March 19, 2023

March 19, 2023

Helio, a Los Angeles-based real estate development firm, has submitted an application for a new multifamily residential building at 3734...

Fox Studio Lot Set for Major $1.5 Billion Upgrade That Will Change the Westside’s Skyline

March 18, 2023

March 18, 2023

Construction could begin in a few years, following the entitlement process. By Sam Catanzaro Fox Studio Lot, one of Hollywood’s...

Column: SB 9 Ended R-1 Zoning, but It’s Not Meeting Goals

March 11, 2023

March 11, 2023

By Tom Elias More than a year after it took effect, the landmark housing density law known as SB 9...

Property Owners in Los Angeles Sue City Over Complex and Costly Rental Regulations

March 10, 2023

March 10, 2023

The AAGLA’s lawsuit seeks to overturn Ordinance No. 1877764 and Ordinance No. 187763 The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles...

Proposed Apartment Complex in Palms Could Replace Low-Slung Duplex

March 10, 2023

March 10, 2023

Project proposed for 3751 S. Delmas Terrace would bring 17 apartments to the area just north of downtown Culver City...

Mixed-Use Development Proposed for Del Rey Residential Site

March 10, 2023

March 10, 2023

Plans call for 27 apartments and 800 square feet of retail at 13481-13485 W. Beach Avenue  Plans for a proposed...

Construction Progresses on Mixed-Use Project on Wesley Street in Culver City

March 5, 2023

March 5, 2023

Development will begin 15 apartments and 14k square feet of office space to 3434 Wesley Street Construction on a mixed-use...

Jamison Services Utilizes Density Bonus Incentives for Five-Story Building in Sawtelle

March 5, 2023

March 5, 2023

Project underway at the intersection of Santa Monica and Federal Development is underway at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard...

The Plight of Downtown LA’s Office Towers: Are Westside CEOs Partly to Blame?

March 5, 2023

March 5, 2023

Brookfield fails to pay a $465 million loan package for the Gas Company Tower at 555 W. 5th St. and...

Column: The Inevitable Conversions Begin Multiplying

February 25, 2023

February 25, 2023

By Tom Elias It’s a phenomenon from New York to Dallas to Fresno and Los Angeles, one that seemed inevitable...

Weingart Center and Local Officials Debut New Permanent Supportive Housing Complex in West LA

February 25, 2023

February 25, 2023

51-unit now open at 11010 Santa Monica Boulevard In a ceremony held recently, the Weingart Center and local officials celebrated...

Column: The Fantasy World of California Housing Policy

February 20, 2023

February 20, 2023

By Tom Elias If you’re looking for sure things among bills under consideration in the state Legislature, think of one...