Scoop: Eleni's backup plan
Presented by
THE BUZZ: ON SECOND THOUGHT — Eleni Kounalakis has spent two years building her campaign for governor, but the specter of Kamala Harris has sent the lieutenant governor and her team off to quietly plot a fallback option.
Kounalakis, who is close to Harris, has informed supporters and Democratic Party allies in recent weeks that she is seriously considering a run for state treasurer in 2026, three people familiar with her outreach told Playbook.
The former U.S. ambassador to Hungary is one of several Democrats in the race for governor whose plans are in limbo as Harris indicates she may run to succeed Gavin Newsom when he's termed out. Harris says she'll make a decision by summer's end.
The reshuffling speaks to how Harris' stature has forced other ambitious Democrats to look at down-ballot contests and created an especially competitive game of musical chairs for lesser-known elected offices.
Kounalakis' team batted away the chatter about running for treasurer — California's primary banker and investment manager, though not exactly a prime-time slot on the slate of statewide posts. The LG's team didn't address conversations she's having with supporters.
'The rumor mill is running on overdrive,' said David Beltran, a spokesperson for the Kounalakis campaign. 'Eleni is 100 percent focused on running for governor.'
If Harris does run, it's a given that Kounalakis would step aside and back the former vice president, a longtime friend who shares a parallel orbit of well-heeled San Francisco donors and consultants.
Kounalakis was the first major contender to jump into the 2026 race for governor — and she's spent the last two years working to raise her profile across California. Her abortion-rights PAC, Californians for Choice, spent millions last year to back Harris' campaign for president and Democrats in swing House races. Kounalakis also made waves with her effort to boot President Donald Trump off the ballot in California, a request dismissed by Newsom and Secretary of State Shirley Weber.
Kounalakis' family connections and fundraising prowess — in addition to her ballot title, which some voters view as a kind of No. 2 to the governor — are potential assets.
But for all of Kounalakis' early campaigning, polling suggests she starts off far behind not just Harris, but also former Rep. Katie Porter, who declared her candidacy this week. It illustrates the difficulty of running for governor in such a large state without household name recognition.
That said, the treasurer's office could be Kounalakis' for the taking. She's already raised $5 million for governor — money that would instantly reshape the race (though she could only transfer a portion of that).
The field for treasurer includes former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Board of Equalization member Tony Vazquez. Other current and former legislators also have open 2026 treasurer committees, including state Sens. Ben Allen and Anna Caballero, as well as former lawmakers Susan Eggman, Nancy Skinner, Phil Ting and Steve Glazer. Politicians often park money in committees while they decide their next move.
DON'T MISS: Senior politics reporter Melanie Mason will interview former LA mayor and Assembly speaker Antonio Villaraigosa as he mounts a gubernatorial bid. The public March 19 event will be at the UC Student and Policy Center in Sacramento. RSVP here.
GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook.
You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@politico.com and bjones@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej.
WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
ON THE HILL
OUT OF TOWN — Many California Republicans won't spend the recess holding in-person town halls after their party's campaign arm urged them not to after attention-grabbing protests over spending cuts generated viral videos at recent forums.
Rep. Kevin Kiley will host one Monday, but it will be virtual, his team told constituents in an email.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa does not have one planned for next week, 'but we are hoping to put something together in the near future,' a spokesperson for him told Playbook.
And Rep. Darrell Issa, who was recently protested for not holding such an event, hasn't indicated plans to host one — though that's also true for Democrats in the San Diego area.
'You'll have to stay tuned and see what new plans we have in store during the recess. There'll be no turning this excitement off,' Jonathan Wilcox, a spokesperson for Issa, said in a statement.
By avoiding the public forums, Republicans have escaped organized demonstrations attacking them over issues ranging from Medicaid cuts to support for Elon Musk. Rep. Jay Obernolte recently saw the raucousness up close when he was booed at an in-person town hall over his backing of the billionaire adviser to President Donald Trump.
Democrats are leaping at the chance to make an issue of their opponents' absence.
'If you're going to have the audacity to raise prices and rip away health care from millions of Americans, you should at least have the courage to face your constituents in person,' House Majority PAC communications director CJ Warnke said in a statement. 'California Republicans are cowards.'
Frontline Democrats don't all have plans lined up, though.
Rep. George Whitesides had a virtual town hall a few weeks ago, but doesn't have an in-person forum scheduled at the moment. Rep. Derek Tran doesn't have one nailed down either, but his office 'is actively working to schedule an in person town hall soon,' according to a spokesperson.
Freshman Rep. Dave Min, however, will hold his first in-person town hall next week. And Rep. Josh Harder has public events planned, though his office didn't provide details.
Several offices didn't respond to Playbook's inquiries about their plans by deadline, including: Reps. David Valadao, Young Kim, Ken Calvert and Tom McClintock. Spokespeople for Reps. Adam Gray and Vince Fong weren't aware of plans for in-person events when reached, and their offices didn't confirm scheduling details by deadline. — with reporting from Melanie Mason and an assist from Nicole Norman
LOS ANGELES
STILL THAWING — An ambitious proposal to freeze rents in LA County is running into fierce opposition and dividing Democrats, our Lindsey Holden reports this morning.
The incineration of thousands of homes there has brought housing insecurity to the fore in one of the most expensive markets in the country. But the prospect of locking in rents has reheated a debate between the powerful landlords' lobby and tenants rights activists who constantly sparred early in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Already, moderates are wary of the idea.
'I don't think that a rent freeze is the answer here,' Democratic Assemblymember Diane Papan said during a recent hearing on the proposal.
STATE CAPITOL
CEDING GROUND — Well, that was fast. As Lindsey scooped yesterday for POLITICO Pro subscribers, Assemblymember Rick Zbur is dropping his anti-stand-your-ground bill today after it almost immediately faced intense online criticism from Republicans.
Zbur's team said he plans to hold the legislation in the Assembly Public Safety Committee after amending it to clarify it wasn't meant to prevent people from defending their homes.
'Unfortunately, misleading information has fueled fear and confusion about the bill,' Zbur said in a statement to POLITICO.
The bill would have narrowed the definition of a 'justifiable homicide' to require deescalation in violent situations. Supporters said California needs a clear set of ground rules after a 2022 Supreme Court ruling struck down portions of the state's concealed-carry law.
But Republicans said the legislation said it would 'make it illegal for you to defend yourself in your own home,' generating enough backlash to prevent the bill from making it to even an initial committee hearing.
MEDICAL BILLS — California will have to borrow $3.4 billion to address a Medicaid funding shortfall — and that's bringing fresh scrutiny to the state's coverage of undocumented patients whose care is costing more than anticipated, our Rachel Bluth reports.
The Newsom administration laid out the fiscal problem in a letter to state lawmakers Wednesday. While the message did not mention undocumented Californians, insurance for that population was initially projected to cost $3 billion per year — but will instead cost $8.4 billion this fiscal year under the administration's latest estimates.
GOLDEN STATE
SPOTTED: OBAMA EDITION — Former President Barack Obama has been making his way across California over the last week. First, Obama attended an LA Clippers game, where he sat courtside next to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie Snyder. Obama waved and received a standing ovation while his mug appeared on the jumbotron.
Obama was also seen recently at Officina, an exclusive dining space above the historic Vesuvio Café in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. And there have been more rumblings about a motorcade of black SUVs being spotted in SF this week. Have you spotted the former president around town? Drop us a line.
CLIMATE AND ENERGY
GLOVES OFF — California's air regulators are taking the gloves off in their fight against the Trump administration and auto industry over the state's electric future. Read last night's California Climate to find out who's leading the charge.
Top Talkers
AND, THIS IS QUITE FRIENDLY — Newsom was strikingly cordial in his latest podcast episode in which he hosted Steve Bannon, the close Trump ally who served four months in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks. But the governor was slightly more confrontational than during the inaugural episode of 'This is Gavin Newsom' with Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk, clashing with Bannon on issues including spending cuts.
Bannon debriefed from recording the episode with some of our colleagues, declaring hyperbolically in an interview that the governor 'agrees with me on everything.' He also would not rule out running for president in 2028 in the interview — something Republicans close to him believe he is considering.
NEWSOM'S 'BELLY RUB' — LA Times columnist Mark Z. Barabak opined that the governor's podcast 'is just about the last thing the world needs right now.' In one memorable line, he described the episode with Kirk as 'an hour-plus, velvet-gloved belly rub,' and labeled the whole endeavor a 'vanity project.'
AROUND THE STATE
— Alameda County has set aside $3.5 million to aid immigrants targeted for deportation by the Trump administration. (SF Chronicle)
— How newly sworn-in state Sen. Tony Strickland became Orange County's 'political Lazarus.' (Voice of OC)
— The SLO Tribune is suing the city of Paso Robles to force Councilmember Chris Bausch to turn over public records. (SLO Tribune)
PLAYBOOKERS
PEOPLE MOVES — Steven Olikara is now senior fellow for political transformation at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. He previously founded the Future Caucus and ran for the Senate in Wisconsin in 2022.
— Jared Rivera has been named chief of staff of Pico California. Jared was formerly vice mayor of civic engagement for the city of LA.
— Jaliya Nagahawatte joins the office of Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) Monday as a financial policy adviser from the office of Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.).
BIRTHDAYS — State Sen. Ben Allen (favorite cake: carrot, but his real love is pumpkin pie) … Allie Banwell, senior program manager at Amazon … Diamond Naga Siu, senior newsletter reporter at Business Insider … Pasadena Unified school board member Patrice Marshall McKenzie (favorite cake: lemon … favorite cocktail: French 75) … Caroline Chalmers …
BELATED B-DAY WISHES: (was Wednesday): Rob Cohen … Larry Rothschild
WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump aides want Texas to redraw its congressional maps to boost the GOP. What would that mean?
This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat Texas' free newsletters here. Republicans representing Texas in Congress are considering this week whether to push their state Legislature to take the unusual step of redrawing district lines to shore up the GOP's advantage in the U.S. House. But the contours of the plan, including whether Gov. Greg Abbott would call a special session of the Legislature to redraw the maps, remain largely uncertain. The idea is being driven by President Donald Trump's political advisers, who want to draw up new maps that would give Republicans a better chance to flip seats currently held by Democrats, according to two GOP congressional aides familiar with the matter. That proposal, which would involve shifting GOP voters from safely red districts into neighboring blue ones, is aimed at safeguarding Republicans' thin majority in Congress, where they control the lower chamber, 220-212. The redistricting proposal, and the Trump team's role in pushing it, was first reported by The New York Times Monday. Without a Republican majority in Congress, Trump's legislative agenda would likely stall, and the president could face investigations from newly empowered Democratic committee chairs intent on scrutinizing the White House. Here's what we know about the plan so far: On Capitol Hill, members of the Texas GOP delegation huddled Monday night to discuss the prospect of reshaping their districts. Most of the 25-member group expressed reluctance about the idea, citing concerns about jeopardizing their districts in next year's midterms if the new maps overextended the GOP's advantage, according to the two GOP aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, was skeptical of the idea. 'We just recently worked on the new maps,' Arrington told The Texas Tribune. To reopen the process, he said, 'there'd have to be a significant benefit to our state.' The delegation has yet to be presented with mockups of new maps, two aides said. Each state's political maps must be redrawn once a decade, after each round of the U.S. census, to account for population growth and ensure every congressional and legislative district has roughly the same number of people. Texas lawmakers last overhauled their district lines in 2021. There's no federal law that prohibits states from redrawing district maps midcycle, said Justin Levitt, an election law professor at Loyola Marymount University and a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's civil rights division. Laws around the timing to redraw congressional and state district maps vary by state. In Texas, the state constitution doesn't specify timing, so the redrawing of maps is left to the discretion of the governor and the Legislature. Lawmakers gaveled out of their 140-day regular session last week, meaning they would need to be called back for a special session to change the state's political maps. Abbott has the sole authority to order overtime sessions and decide what lawmakers are allowed to consider. A trial is underway in El Paso in a long-running challenge to the state legislative and congressional district maps Texas drew after the 2020 U.S. Census. If Texas redraws its congressional maps, state officials would then ask the court to toss the claims challenging those districts 'that no longer exist,' Levitt said. The portion of the case over the state legislative district maps would continue. If the judge agrees, then both parties would have to file new legal claims for the updated maps. It isn't clear how much maps could change, but voters could find themselves in new districts, and Levitt said redrawing the lines in the middle of the redistricting cycle is a bad idea. 'If the people of Texas think that their representatives have done a bad job, then when the [district] lines change, they're not voting on those representatives anymore,' Levitt said. 'New people are voting on those representatives.' The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, Democrats' national arm for contesting state GOP mapmaking, said the proposal to expand Republicans' stronghold in Texas was 'yet another example of Trump trying to suppress votes in order to hold onto power.' 'Texas's congressional map is already being sued for violating the Voting Rights Act because it diminishes the voting power of the state's fast-growing Latino population,' John Bisognano, president of the NDRC said. 'To draw an even more extreme gerrymander would only assure that the barrage of legal challenges against Texas will continue.' When Republicans in charge of the Legislature redrew the district lines after the 2020 census, they focused on reinforcing their political support in districts already controlled by the GOP. This redistricting proposal would likely take a different approach. As things stand, Republicans hold 25 of the state's 38 congressional seats. Democrats hold 12 seats and are expected to regain control of Texas' one vacant seat in a special election this fall. Most of Texas' GOP-controlled districts lean heavily Republican: In last year's election, 24 of those 25 seats were carried by a Republican victor who received at least 60% of the vote or ran unopposed. The exception was U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, who captured 57% of the vote and won by a comfortable 14-point margin. With little competition to speak of, The Times reported, Trump's political advisers believe at least some of those districts could bear the loss of GOP voters who would be reshuffled into neighboring, Democratic-held districts — giving Republican hopefuls a better chance to flip those seats from blue to red. The party in control of the White House frequently loses seats during midterm cycles, and Trump's team is likely looking to offset potential GOP losses in other states and improve the odds of holding on to a narrow House majority. Incumbent Republicans, though, don't love the idea of sacrificing a comfortable race in a safe district for the possibility of picking up a few seats, according to GOP aides. In 2003, after Texas Republicans initially left it up to the courts to draw new lines following the 2000 census, then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Sugar Land Republican, embarked instead on a bold course of action to consolidate GOP power in the state. He, along with his Republican allies, redrew the lines as the opening salvo to a multistate redistricting plan aimed at accumulating power for his party in states across the country. Enraged by the power play, Democrats fled the state, depriving the Texas House of the quorum it needed to function. The rebels eventually relented under threat of arrest, a rare power in the Texas Constitution used to compel absent members back to return to Austin when the Legislature is in session. The lines were then redrawn, cementing the GOP majority the delegation has enjoyed in Washington for the past two decades. However, what's at play this time is different than in the early 2000s, when Republicans had a newfound majority in the Legislature and had a number of vulnerable Democratic incumbents they could pick off. Now, Republicans have been entrenched in the majority for decades and will have to answer the question of whether there's really more to gain, said Kareem Crayton, the vice president of the Brennan Center for Justice's Washington office. 'That's the tradeoff. You can do that too much so that you actually make them so competitive that the other side wins,' Crayton said. 'That's always a danger.' Texas Republicans are planning to reconvene Thursday to continue discussing the plan, according to Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, who said they will attend the meeting. Members of Trump's political team are also expected to attend, according to Hunt and two GOP congressional aides familiar with the matter. Natalia Contreras is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She's based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@ Disclosure: New York Times has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Associated Press
25 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Consultant on trial for AI-generated robocalls mimicking Biden says he has no regrets
LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — A political consultant told a New Hampshire jury Wednesday that he doesn't regret sending voters robocalls that used artificial intelligence to mimic former President Joe Biden and that he's confident he didn't break the law. Steven Kramer, 56, of New Orleans, has long admitted to orchestrating a message sent to thousands of voters two days before New Hampshire's Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primary. Recipients heard an AI-generated voice similar to the Democratic president's that used his catchphrase 'What a bunch of malarkey' and, as prosecutors allege, suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting ballots in November. 'It's important that you save your vote for the November election,' voters were told. 'Your votes make a difference in November, not this Tuesday.' Kramer, who faces decades in prison if convicted of voter suppression and impersonating a candidate, said his goal was to send a wake-up call about the potential dangers of AI when he paid a New Orleans magician $150 to create the recording. He was getting frequent calls from people using AI in campaigns, and, worried about the lack of regulations, made it his New Year's resolution to take action. 'This is going to be my one good deed this year,' he recalled while testifying in Belknap County Superior Court. He said his goal wasn't to influence an election, because he didn't consider the primary a real election. At Biden's request, the Democratic National Committee dislodged New Hampshire from its traditional early spot in the 2024 nominating calendar but later dropped its threat not to seat the state's national convention delegates. Biden did not put his name on the ballot or campaign there but won as a write-in. Kramer, who owns a firm specializing in get-out-the-vote projects, argued that the primary was a meaningless straw poll unsanctioned by the DNC. At the time the calls went out, voters were disenfranchised, he said. Asked by his attorney, Tom Reid, whether he did anything illegal, Kramer said, 'I'm positive I did not.' Later, he said he had no regrets and that his actions likely spurred AI regulations in multiple states. Kramer, who will be questioned by prosecutors Thursday, also faces a $6 million fine by the Federal Communications Commission but told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he won't pay it. Lingo Telecom, the company that transmitted the calls, agreed to pay $1 million in a settlement in August. The robocalls appeared to come from a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair, Kathy Sullivan, and told voters to call her number to be removed from the call list. On the witness stand earlier Wednesday, Sullivan said she was confused and then outraged after speaking to one of the recipients and later hearing the message. 'I hung up the phone and said, 'There is something really crazy going on,'' she said. 'Someone is trying to suppress the vote for Biden. I can't believe this is happening.' Months later, she got a call from Kramer in which he said he used her number because he knew she would contact law enforcement and the media. He also described his motive — highlighting AI's potential dangers — but she didn't believe him, she testified. 'My sense was he was trying to convince me that he'd done this defensible, good thing,' she said. 'I'm listening to this thinking to myself, 'What does he thing I am, stupid?' He tried to suppress the vote.'
Boston Globe
34 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Why rooftop solar could crash under the GOP tax bill
'This sets us back,' said Ben Airth, policy director for Freedom Forever, one of the country's largest residential solar installers. 'I've been in this industry 22 years and remember when it was only rich people, doomsday preppers and environmentalists installing solar panels on their roofs.' Advertisement One analysis by Ohm Analytics, an energy data firm, estimates that residential solar installations could fall by half next year if the House bill becomes law. Without the tax credits, it would take 17 years, on average, for homeowners to earn back their solar investments. A more pessimistic analysis by Morgan Stanley projects that rooftop solar demand could fall by 85 percent through 2030. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up While Republicans want to curb tax breaks for other renewable energy technologies like wind turbines and large-scale solar farms, the consequences for rooftop solar could be more severe. Rooftop solar can cost two to three times as much per unit of electricity as large solar arrays on farms or in deserts, and the residential industry is more vulnerable to shifts in subsidies. Advertisement The Senate is now writing its version of the domestic policy bill, and solar executives have descended on Washington to plead for a more gradual wind-down of the energy credits. They note that the solar industry employs roughly 300,000 workers and that rooftop systems can help homeowners cut their electric bills. Yet some conservative Republicans have made clear they oppose any restoration of tax breaks for renewable energy. 'Those God forsaken subsidies are killing our energy, killing our grid, making us weaker, destroying our landscape, undermining our freedom,' Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said on the House floor last week. 'I'm not going to have it.' The uncertainty is upending an industry that was already struggling with tariffs and high interest rates. Last week, Solar Mosaic, which provided loans to homeowners to install rooftop panels, declared bankruptcy. On Monday, Sunnova Energy, one of the nation's largest rooftop solar companies, followed suit. Some experts say rooftop solar will eventually rebound, even without subsidies, if electricity prices keep rising around the country, which would make the economics of going solar more favorable. But the adjustment period is likely to be painful, with more bankruptcies and layoffs. 'We're not expecting residential solar to go away,' said Zoë Gaston, a principal analyst for residential solar at Wood MacKenzie, an energy research firm. 'But it will be smaller.' Major tax changes For two decades, Congress has offered tax breaks for people who put solar panels on their roofs. But Democrats supersized those subsidies in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into technologies meant to fight climate change. The law extended the residential solar credit, which allows homeowners to recoup 30 percent of the cost of a solar system they own, through 2032. It also expanded an investment tax credit for companies that build low-emissions sources of electricity like solar and batteries. Advertisement The latter change fueled a boom in solar leasing, in which homeowners don't have to pay the upfront cost of a rooftop solar system that can run $30,000 or more. Instead, a company owns the panels and keeps the tax credits. The homeowner leases the equipment from the company and ideally saves money through lower energy bills. More than 50 percent of home solar systems are now financed this way, and the rise of leasing has made rooftop solar more accessible to less-wealthy households, as well as to schools, hospitals and small businesses. The House Republican bill would terminate the residential solar tax credit by the end of 2025. And, in a last-minute change pushed by fiscal conservatives, solar leasing companies would be immediately ineligible for the investment tax credit. The House bill would also forbid companies from claiming the tax credits if they use components from China, which dominates solar supply chains. Because that provision is so broadly written, many companies say it would effectively make the credits unusable. 'Catastrophic is a fair way to describe the industry impact' of the House bill, said Gregg Felton, CEO of Altus Power, which develops solar projects on rooftops and parking lots. If Congress slashed support for renewable energy, experts said companies would continue investing in large-scale solar arrays, since even without subsidies those plants are often one of the cheapest ways to generate additional electrons. Rooftop solar, which is costlier and requires more labor, faces greater risks. Advertisement Kenny Pfannenstiel, the chief operating officer at Big Dog Solar, an Idaho-based solar installation company, said that rooftop solar has lately grown popular in newer markets like Montana and Idaho. 'We see a lot of interest from people who want to control their own energy future, or who worry about the grid being available when they need it,' Pfannenstiel said. Once the tax credits were expanded, he said, 'the economic argument for those customers to install solar and battery systems became a lot stronger.' If the credits vanished, some customers might still want panels, he said, but the market 'would shrink drastically.' The ripple effects could be significant. If solar leasing companies go bankrupt, customers could be left in the lurch, with no one left to service their panels. Thousands of installers and electricians would find themselves out of work. More than three dozen solar factories have opened in the United States in recent years, but some could shutter if demand slows. A debate over rooftop solar The fight over tax credits in Congress isn't the only challenge facing rooftop solar. While the technology remains popular with homeowners, some states have started pulling back support amid a barrage of criticism. Electric utilities and some analysts say that rooftop solar users raise costs for everyone else, because solar households pay less on their monthly utility bills but still rely on the broader grid for backup power. That shifts the cost of maintaining the grid to other households, which are often low-income. (Solar proponents disagree, saying that utilities ignore many benefits of rooftop panels, such as avoided transmission costs.) The fight has been especially fierce in California, the country's biggest rooftop solar market. In 2022, regulators slashed the compensation that new solar households could receive for the electricity they produce. In the months that followed, rooftop installations fell 85 percent statewide, straining installers, manufacturers and distributors. Advertisement Even now, some officials are looking to cut support further, including for existing homes. 'We have to reevaluate how our current solar subsidy programs impact Californians who may not be able to afford solar-panel systems,' said Lisa Calderon, a Democratic state lawmaker. The rise in interest rates has further squeezed the rooftop solar industry, by making it more expensive to borrow money to finance new installations. The Trump and Biden administrations also increased tariffs on solar components from China, which aids domestic manufacturers but makes panels more expensive. 'At some point our industry can and should be able to function without tax credits,' said Chris Hopper, co-founder of Aurora Solar, a software company that designs home solar systems. 'I do think we could get on board with a phase-down of these credits over an appropriate time period that gives us time to figure out how to find efficiencies and lower costs.' 'But an overnight change would be devastating,' Hopper said. 'It's just not possible to adapt that quickly.' This article originally appeared in .
