Letters: California's net-metering change is killing rooftop solar. That's why we sued to save it

San Francisco Chronicle​

2 days ago

Rooftop solar is a clean and cheap source of energy that could power our communities without the excessive transmission infrastructure that ignited some of the state's biggest wildfires.
With our ample sunlight, it only makes sense that California would lean into solar energy. Thus, I was outraged by the California Public Utilities Commission's 2022 decision to gut net energy metering, the very policy that enables rooftop solar to pay for itself. In so doing, the commission hamstrung solar energy production and cost the industry 17,000 jobs, according to the California Solar & Storage Association.
That's why my organization teamed up with others to challenge the decision in a case now before the California Supreme Court. There will be a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, and I urge Californians to tune in and to support local solar.
Rooftop solar can power resilience hubs that our communities can use in the event of power shut-offs. It also allows a pathway for communities of color, often burdened with the pollution from dirty energy, to share in the wealth and savings of the clean energy future.
California should make it easier, not harder, for us to use the solar energy that beams down over us.
The reason projects often come under CEQA attack is that local planners and approving authorities try to cut corners.
The city of Napa declared the proposed day care center in question to be 'categorically exempt' from any CEQA review when the operator's own data showed an increase of 1,000 auto trips per day impacting an already dangerously congested intersection.
Concerned citizens called the city's procedural errors to the attention of officials when they still could have been remedied. Had the city taken a few more steps in the CEQA process, its project approval would have been bulletproof. Instead, it chose to ignore the rules and gave opponents grounds for a bona fide legal challenge.
Public officials should not blame the law or villainize concerned citizens when agency corner-cutting causes delays and expense to worthy projects.
Bill bad on guns
The House-passed 'Big Beautiful Bill' contains a provision that will eliminate the registration and ownership requirements for gun silencers that have been in place since 1934.
These devices reduce the sound of gunfire and make semi-automatic weapons such as AR-15s even more dangerous.
Al Comolli, Millbrae