Bill that would cut benefits for California rooftop solar weakened by legislators

California homeowners with rooftop solar panels may see a significant change when trying to sell their homes after the California State Assembly's Utilities & Energy Committee voted to end net metering for homes with solar when the property is sold to new owners.
Assembly Bill 942, backed by Lisa Calderon, D-Whittier, a former Southern California Edison executive, reforms utility-offered programs that provide energy credits to Californians who installed solar panels.
The bill initially aimed to end net energy metering for homeowners after 10 years instead of the original 20, but was amended to remove that controversial proposal that led to protests by rooftop solar owners outside of Calderon's office.
'I've gotten more opposition to this bill than to any other by eight to tenfold,' Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Santa Clarita, who voted no, told the Los Angeles Times.
Here's what to know about Assembly Bill 942 and potential California rooftop solar billing changes.
More than 2 million homeowners and businesses in California have rooftop solar panels, according to the California Solar and Storage Association .
Rooftop solar was estimated to save all California homeowners $1.5 billion in bills in 2024 alone, according to CALSSA.
However, the Public Advocates Office of California estimates the NEM program costs customers without solar an estimated $8.5 billion by the end of 2024.
Utilities have fixed costs — wildfire safety measures, grid infrastructure, and maintenance —that must be paid regardless of how much electricity is consumed, the Public Advocates Office reported. If rooftop solar customers pay less, these fixed costs must be recovered from all other customers, dramatically increasing rates for non-rooftop solar customers.
"As the cost shift grows, it leads to higher retail electricity rates for all customers, which disproportionatelyaffects non-solar customers who are not benefiting from the financial incentives of solar programs," the Public Advocates Office reported in a fact sheet released with the study.
CALSSA, though, pushed back on that research with another study that found electricity rates have increased because of unnecessary spending on grid infrastructure.
"Rooftop solar keeps demand on the electricity grid from growing, which reduces the need to build grid expansions and saves everyone money," CALSSA said in a press release announcing the study.
If Assembly Bill 942 passes in California, homeowners with solar panels could see their monthly electricity bills increase by about $63 or $750 a year, the Center of Community Energy reported.
And requiring homes with rooftop solar sold or transferred to end net energy metering plans would hurt property values and break promises with millions of solar users, Brad Heavner, executive director of CALSSA said.
'Messing with home values and the transferability of property has long been considered a dangerous 'third rail' for California politicians, and this interference is no different,' Heavner told PV Magazine.
When NEM pricing ends, your utility will switch your account to a new solar billing plan, which will likely have different rate structures and won't have the same level of credit for surplus energy produced by your panels.
A workaround for the potential loss of NEM pricing is to install a solar battery at your home, energy consumer advocate website EnergySage.com reported.
Solar batteries store surplus energy at your house so you can use power generated by solar panels later instead of sending excess energy to your utility company, EnergySage reported.
Solar batteries cost about $9,000 to install after tax credits, EnergySage estimated.
Assembly Bill 942 is now scheduled for hearings in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. If passed by that committee, it will face a full review by the entire chamber.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Assembly Bill 942 would change some of the benefits of rooftop solar

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