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Letters to the Editor: Rooftop solar is a win-win for customers and utilities. Why make it more expensive?

To the editor: Over a typical 25-year life span, a rooftop solar system costs about 6 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity produced. Most installers have finance programs where the monthly cost is less than the utility bill. Instead of putting road blocks in front of rooftop solar, utilities should encourage and embrace it. (“California …

Letters to the Editor: Rooftop solar is a win-win for customers and utilities. Why make it more expensive? Read More »

How might they affect you?

Later this year, the California Public Utilities Commission expects to update the rules over how owners of rooftop solar systems are compensated. If the past is any indication, the debate will be a fierce one between the state’s utilities and the solar industry. Monday marked the day the two sides — as well as other …

How might they affect you? Read More »

Letters to the Editor: How to make home greywater systems take off like rooftop solar

To the editor: Residing in Southern California, we live in a semi-arid environment. Unless we want to dry up and blow away, we definitely need to capture and use the precious rain we get here, as your editorial noted. But we also need to prioritize and encourage the use of residential greywater. Water usage in …

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California debating the future of rooftop solar’s biggest incentive

(Reuters) – California’s power utilities have asked state officials to reduce the amount of money homeowners make selling excess electricity from rooftop solar panels into the grid, a proposal that could slow widespread solar adoption. Policies made in California, the nation’s biggest market for rooftop solar panels, often serve as a template for other states …

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Should California slash rooftop solar incentives? We took a survey

This is the Jan. 20, 2022, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. A high-stakes battle over California’s clean energy future is nearing its endgame. The state’s Public Utilities Commission has proposed major cuts …

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California eyes rooftop solar policy changes. The industry says its future hangs in the balance

A fight over the future of California’s rooftop solar industry is intensifying, as state officials contemplate comprehensive reforms to a program that pays homeowners for clean power they share with the electric grid. Lawmakers and utility company regulators are weighing whether to sharply reduce bill credits that residents with solar panels attached to their homes …

California eyes rooftop solar policy changes. The industry says its future hangs in the balance Read More »

Don’t gut a program that helps Californians install solar

As California begins reopening, small business owners know all too well the day-to-day worry over work levels that might not return to pre-pandemic norms. While government programs and assistance have helped many small business owners weather the COVID storm, for solar installation companies like mine, upcoming government agency decisions could threaten our business’ health. Later …

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Column: How California’s rooftop solar program became a victim of its own spectacular success

There’s one aspect of California’s program to spur the installation of rooftop solar panels that everyone can agree on: It has been spectacularly successful. Launched in 1995 and pushed forward a decade later, when then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger set a target of 1 million solar installations, the program has handily exceeded that goal. Today there are …

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Capitol Weekly Podcast: Bernadette Del Chiaro – Capitol Weekly

Podcast by Capitol Weekly Staff posted 06.28.2021 As John says in the episode: “When we think of solar energy, we think of Bernadette Del Chiaro.” Bernadette is the executive director of the California Solar & Storage Association, whose mission is to promote the widespread deployment of local clean energy technologies. Rooftop solar has been one …

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