The California Supreme Court has done that taken over a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Protect Our Communities Foundation, and the Environmental Working Group, challenging the state’s new NEM 3.0 rooftop solar policy. The petitioners ask the court to rule on whether the California Public Utilities Commission’s NEM 3.0 decision complies with state law require that net metering policies help grow the rooftop solar market, especially in underserved communities.
NEM 3.0 went into effect on April 15, 2023 and reduced the reimbursement homeowners receive for feeding excess solar energy back into the grid by approximately 75%. A 2022 analysis by Wood Mackenzie predicted that NEM 3.0 would halve California’s rooftop solar market by 2024. Internal research by the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) found that California was on track to lose 22% of its solar jobs by the end of 2023.
In May 2023, the Center for Biological Diversity and other petitioners filed a lawsuit challenging the decision, but an appeals court ruled in favor of the CPUC and upheld NEM 3.0. The groups now say the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeals court ruling is an opportunity to undo the damage and save solar energy.
“The court’s intervention is necessary to clarify whether the commission can ignore social benefits when setting rates for residential rooftop generation and meet its obligation to support the growth of rooftop solar in underserved communities under the NEM status,” said Caroline, General Counsel of the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Leary.
Attorney Roger Lin of the Center for Biological Diversity said World of solar energy he expects the court’s briefings to last at least through the summer, after which the court will schedule oral arguments.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is a ray of hope for rooftop solar at a time when plummeting installations and mass layoffs are destroying this vital industry and jeopardizing California’s climate goals,” Lin said. “The Public Utilities Commission made a big mistake by putting the benefits of rooftop solar out of the reach of working families. But the commission is not immune from judicial review, and I am now much more optimistic that we can return to reasonable policies that help California combat the climate crisis and environmental injustice.”
Updated at 3:33 PM
