CPUC decision protects solar net metering customers for 20 years

SAN FRANCISCO – According to the California Solar Energy Industries Association, on March 27 the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) finalized its decision on the net metering transition period required under AB 327. The decision ensures that customers who have installed solar can continue using the current net metering rules for the first 20 years of operation of their solar systems.

In the decision, the CPUC acknowledged that the state should honor the expectations that it has previously given to consumers. The decision states that “adopting a transition period that denies customer-generators the opportunity to realize their expected benefits would not be in the public interest, to the extent that it could undermine regulatory certainty and discourage future investment in renewable distributed generation.”

The state’s major utilities had been pressing for a transition period of 6-12 years, based on the amount of time it takes many customers to recoup their initial investments without any savings.

“By rejecting the utility proposals, the PUC stood up for California consumers,” said Brad Heavner, policy director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association. “With this decision, the Brown Administration is sending a clear message that California will always be a solar friendly place.”

The CPUC will now turn its attention to creating the new net metering rules that will go into effect in 2017 and could, once again, put California in the driver’s seat when it comes to clean energy. AB 327 stipulates that the rules must be uncapped and unlimited, and must ensure that the solar market continues to “grow sustainably.”

Net metering allows the meter to spin backward when your solar system is generating more electricity than you are using in your home or business. The utility bills you only for your net use – the amount of electricity you use from the utility minus the amount you give to the utility. Under today’s decision, once solar customers reach the 20-year benchmark, they will be transferred to the new net metering rules to be in effect in 2017.