I’m proud of California’s leadership in moving to a future where all our energy needs are supplied by renewable, sustainable sources. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s challenge to get 1,000,000 homes equipped with rooftop solar was met and surpassed. In fact the trend continues and at an increasing rate. Gov. Brown followed up by committing California to generating 60% of its energy using wind, solar and other renewable energy resources by 2030. By 2045, the state is to be sustained solely by renewable energy.
This would be a huge victory in the battle against climate change caused by fossil fuels.
In December, the California Public Utilities Commission revealed a proposal which delivers a devastating gut punch to the adoption of residential rooftop solar systems. Specifically, CPUC wants to charge new solar customers with average size systems an additional fixed monthly charge of $50. Wham! On top of that, the current buy-back rate for surplus electricity generated by an average sized home solar system will drop by 85%. Double whammy! If adopted, these financial disincentives will do two things. First, potential solar customers will be scared off. Second, the rooftop solar industry in California will wither and jobs will be lost. Backed by very fuzzy logic, the CPUC asserts the opposite will occur; more solar, enhanced grid reliability, lower costs to consumers. The unvarnished truth is that this proposal turns a blind eye to climate change initiatives and flies in the face of California’s decarbonization goals. The proposal will be on the CPUC’s Jan. 27, 2022, voting meeting agenda.
Gov. Newsom recently commented that there’s “work to be done” on this proposal. I believe it should be scrapped and replaced with more viable plans. Write to the governor and your representatives if you feel the same.
Bruce - no fuzzy math here. Please read my article below. The proposed action by the CPUC is not addressing the residential solar program but the coddling of the industry. If it were so great, solar systems should be self supporting by now without help from those of us who cannot or choose not to install such systems. Residential solar systems are also not reliable enough to get us to a greener energy platform. You are clearly not informed enough to call this an 'attack.'
The fundamental problem with roof top solar is it’s far too expensive. It’s far cheaper to buy 100% solar through PG&E than build you own. Also like any other electronics device, the cost of a roof top solar system will be 50% less for twice solar energy in 5 years. The money put into a roof top solar system could be used to add 100 times the amount of solar cells to an existing solar farms. Transmission cost are insignificant and the transmission lines from solar farms don’t run through forests to get here. When the sun shines here it’s shining even brighter in the valley. When this happens PG&E has to give solar electricity away to Arizona and Nevada to balance the grid. Obviously PG&E doesn’t need any more power from roof top solar systems.
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Bruce - no fuzzy math here. Please read my article below. The proposed action by the CPUC is not addressing the residential solar program but the coddling of the industry. If it were so great, solar systems should be self supporting by now without help from those of us who cannot or choose not to install such systems. Residential solar systems are also not reliable enough to get us to a greener energy platform. You are clearly not informed enough to call this an 'attack.'
The fundamental problem with roof top solar is it’s far too expensive. It’s far cheaper to buy 100% solar through PG&E than build you own. Also like any other electronics device, the cost of a roof top solar system will be 50% less for twice solar energy in 5 years. The money put into a roof top solar system could be used to add 100 times the amount of solar cells to an existing solar farms. Transmission cost are insignificant and the transmission lines from solar farms don’t run through forests to get here. When the sun shines here it’s shining even brighter in the valley. When this happens PG&E has to give solar electricity away to Arizona and Nevada to balance the grid. Obviously PG&E doesn’t need any more power from roof top solar systems.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.