If you have a solar system, or you want to preserve your ability to own one in the future without increased expenses, there is a fight going on right now over Net Energy Metering (NEM) that you might want to join. On one side are the three major CA utilities: PG&E, SoCal Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. On the other side are residential electricity users and businesses. Whose side are you on?
Want to cut to the chase and sign the petition now?
The utilities want to make it as hard as possible for customers to use net energy metering (NEM) because it allows us to plug our solar electric systems into the power grid and spin our meters backwards when we produce more electricity than we can use. This Distributed Generation (DG) puts power production close to where it is consumed, as our solar systems back-feed excess power into the grid and right into the wires feeding other homes in the neighborhood.
NEM takes income away from the utilities, which is why they have been working to eliminate it for years. Now the utilities have stepped up their campaign another notch by appealing to the CPUC to drastically change the NEM rules. The utilities know that California voters won’t let them eliminate NEM, so they want to make NEM so expensive, complicated and difficult to use that people will just give up on it, forcing companies like Sun Light & Power out of business and destroying the whole DG solar market.
The utilities want to load up every solar system with fees and special charges, and they want to pay you a pittance for the energy that you back-feed, even as they charge your neighbors up to ten times the amount they pay you for that green, local energy that you generated. And for those of you who already have solar – the enemies of NEM are after you too! They want to saddle you also with new fees and charges, and reduce your NEM payments.
Sun Light & Power has been serving your solar needs for over 44 years and we know you want us to fight this utility power grab. That is why Sun Light & Power is a partner with the Solar Rights Alliance (SRA), a non-profit which represents the interests of every solar customer in California. Together, we are fighting to preserve your right to self-generate green power and be fairly compensated for what you contribute to the grid. Please join the SRA and Tell Governor Newsom and the CPUC to stand up to the utility attack on solar!
Now is not the time to scale back solar in California. We are facing the greatest challenge that humanity has ever faced: global warming. Nobody is blameless, but there is no question that we got here in large measure because the same utilities have been generating power from dirty coal, oil and natural gas for over a century. Now they are trying to hobble people’s ability to generate green, carbon-free power on their own property and for their own use. Please take a few minutes to join our appeal to Governor Newsom to use his influence with the CPUC and stand up for solar rights.
Gary Gerber is CEO of Sun Light & Power, which he co-founded in 1976. He is widely recognized as a solar pioneer and industry leader. Gary has served for the past 16 years as a member of the board of the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA), and served as its president from 2007 to 2011.