Despite broad support for rooftop solar, the state’s Governor Newsom, the Public Utilities Commission, and the state’s investor-owned utilities are making it harder for homeowners, schools and farms to install solar.
A recent poll of California residents showed broad support for the expansion of solar and energy storage in the state. A poll of 800 registered California voters conducted by Global Strategy Group, North Star Opinion Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) found that solar is popular across party lines.
The poll was represented by 55% self-reported Democrats, 13% Independent, and 32% independent or Republican leaning, with 17% of the total respondents identifying as Trump voters.
Solar tax credits like the ones made available by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 were broadly popular in the poll, with 98% of Democrats and 73% of Trump voters responding that they generally support clean energy tax credits. However, solar tax credit expert Keith Martin of Norton Rose Fullbright warned that the Trump administration has voiced support for phasing out the Investment Tax Credit and Production Tax Credit, two core pillars of U.S. clean energy industrial policy.
Regardless of voter status, solar is the most popular source of electricity in California, with 85% of respondents saying their utility should get more electricity from solar. Over 69% of California Trump voters said California policymakers should be doing more to encourage the use of solar power.
And yet, the state’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the state’s three investor-owned utilities have moved in lockstep to make it more difficult for residents, small businesses, schools, and farms to adopt solar.
In near total unanimity, 96% of polled Californians said that residents should be able to generate their own solar power if they want to. However, Governor Newsom recently ruled that properties with multiple electric meters, like schools and farms, must sell their rooftop solar production to the private utility company at a low wholesale price, and then buy it back at a retail price multiple times higher than their selling price.
About 68% of respondents said California policymakers are making it harder than they should to expand use of solar in the state. Over 83% of respondents said they agree that solar is good for California’s economy, can save families money, and creates good paying jobs.
However, some 17,000 solar jobs have been lost in the state, following a CPUC ruling under the Newsom administration to make severe cuts to the compensation rates for sending rooftop solar to the grid.
The move to make cuts to solar export compensation is highly unpopular among voters. Respondents overwhelmingly agreed (89%) that people who have solar panels should receive fair value for selling power back to the grid.
Rooftop solar export compensation was cut due to an argument from the state’s investor-owned utilities that rooftop solar was causing cross-subsidization costs for non-rooftop solar customers, leading to higher bills. This “cost shift” argument has been analyzed by numerous third-party organizations, national laboratories, and state consumer protection groups and shown to be based on false assumptions, internal utility data, and likely motivated by profit protection over consumer protection.
Polled voters agree that the utility company is unlikely to have the best interests of Californians in mind. About 80% of respondents agreed that their electric utility is more focused on making a profit than providing good service at a reasonable price, and 79% said they do not trust their utility to be honest about what is causing higher electricity prices.
Across party lines, Californians believe they are being lied to by the utilities, CPUC and Newsom about the rooftop solar cost shift.
About 77% of Democrats and 76% of Trump voters agreed with the following statement:
“Utilities are blaming solar power, but their math doesn’t add up. Increasing our use of solar power brings prices down for everyone. The real reason that electricity prices are going up is utility company overspending and mismanagement, and increased wildfire costs.”
Find the full poll here.
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