Sacramento, CA – In a pivotal decision today, the Legislature approved SB 1374, authored by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), which undoes damage caused by a California Public Utilities Commission decision last fall. This bill, the only high priority solar legislation remaining this session, represents a significant step forward in California's clean energy landscape by restoring fair treatment for all utility customers with on-site solar generation.
SB 1374 addresses a disparity faced by apartments, schools, institutions and organizations with multiple meters on the same property. The CPUC decision forces these customers to sell their self-generated solar energy to utilities at low rates and then buy it back–at the same time–at much higher rates. The inability to self-consume the energy these organizations are generating is taking money away from classrooms and families who are seeing increasingly higher energy costs.
SB 1374 restores fairness for solar customers with multiple meters on their property by requiring the CPUC to update its tariffs to treat properties with multiple meters the same way they are treating single-family homes and non-residential customers with a single meter. The measure not only rights a wrong created by state regulators, it also accelerates the state’s transition to a clean and reliable grid.
“SB 1374 removes a burdensome barrier and restores the ability for customers to self-consume the energy they produce on their property,” said Becker. “This bill is simply a matter of fairness. Multiple-metered customers should get the same treatment as everyone else and not have to sell their power to the utility at low prices and immediately buy it back at much higher retail prices.”
“California cannot meet its carbon emission reduction goals without properly supporting our over 10,000 school sites through the transition to clean energy,” said Nancy Chaires Espinoza, Executive Director of the School Energy Coalition. “Schools are ready to be a part of bringing about a healthier and safer environment for our students and all Californians. In order to do that, we just need lawmakers to treat us fairly and align the rules to their own stated goals, such as AB 32.”
“California schools represent 730 million square feet of buildings, and it’s where our 6 million children spend most of their waking hours. We must ensure our schools are resilient to the increasingly frequent and long-lasting impacts of climate change, and that our kids can stay in school and continue learning despite these disruptions. Solar energy and battery storage are critical to protecting learning time, and they’re critical to meeting our state’s clean energy and climate adaptation goals. We need it to pencil out for schools,” said Stephanie Seidmon, Program Director of UndauntedK12.
“Public schools have one general fund that everything comes out of: teachers’ salaries, textbooks, mental health counselors, utility bills-–it all comes out of the same bucket. Oakland’s electricity bills have increased by $1.5 million dollars over the last year alone. That’s $1.5 million that’s not going to hire support staff for our students with disabilities or to provide services for our students experiencing homelessness or to create a new Algebra 1 class for our students to have smaller class sizes. In previous years, we used solar energy to offset these rising costs and invest the savings in programs that improve educational equity. Restoring and protecting these incentives is critical to ensuring all students receive the education they need to thrive,” said Sam Davis, Oakland Unified School District Board President.
SB 1374 is sponsored by the School Energy Coalition and UndauntedK12 and is supported by an extensive and diverse coalition of environmental organizations, businesses, agriculture groups, schools, and others. It now heads to the Governor’s Desk for signature.