Installing more rooftop solar in California will increase essential renewable electricity generation while protecting the state’s open spaces. It will also help make communities more resilient to global warming-related disruptions to the power grid.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted Thursday to approve major changes to the Avoided Cost Calculator (ACC), the state’s official ‘value of solar’ calculator.
California’s investor owned utilities are using a common playbook to stall the growth of solar, according to a new report released Thursday by Environment California Research & Policy Center and CALPIRG Education Fund. In California, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SoCal Edison) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) are targeting the state’s net metering program, which compensates solar owners for the excess electricity they sell back to the grid.
Environment California Research & Policy Center and CALPIRG Education Fund joined clean energy advocates, environmentalists, solar consumers and faith leaders in calling on state decision makers to defend rooftop solar.
The report found that all 50 states, including California, have sufficient solar or wind potential to meet current electricity needs, and that California has sufficient wind and solar potential to meet its 2020 electricity needs 40 times over. California is also among the 49 that have enough to do so under a 2050 scenario in which such energy uses as transportation and buildings run on electricity.
Environment California Research and Policy Center is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.
