The California Supreme Court docket will hear oral arguments at 9 a.m. PT on Wednesday, June 4, in a lawsuit difficult the California Public Utility Fee’s resolution to considerably slash the credit score new photo voltaic customers get for sharing extra vitality with the grid.
The fee’s up to date net-metering coverage, which took impact in April 2023, slashes buyer credit by as much as 80% for electrical energy generated on rooftops and bought again to the grid. This has stymied efforts to develop rooftop photo voltaic within the state, notably in communities of coloration and low-income neighborhoods and led to large layoffs within the photo voltaic business. The Heart for Organic Variety says it additionally violated state law, which requires that the fee make sure the rooftop photo voltaic market retains rising, notably in environmental justice communities.
In 2022 the Heart for Organic Variety, The Shield Our Communities Basis and the Environmental Working Group challenged the state’s new coverage. Though the California Court docket of Enchantment rejected the problem, the California Supreme Court docket accepted petitioners’ enchantment of that ruling. In Could, the state Supreme Court docket issued a spotlight letter asking whether or not the decrease courtroom ought to have adopted a state legislation that requires the reviewing courtroom to contemplate the fee’s choices as it will these of any state company, reasonably than deferring to the fee.
Information merchandise from the Heart for Organic Variety
