California pushes a new plan to cut rooftop solar incentives to try to lure more customers from more expensive solar options. It’s part of an aggressive plan to encourage competition in the rapidly expanding solar industry.
California is trying to attract solar customers with a carrot-and-stick approach to solar incentives. Some of the incentives come in the form of discounted prices on rooftop solar panels. The state’s push is part of a broader campaign by California to encourage competition in the rapidly expanding solar industry.
The state is moving forward on a plan to offer an incentive to customers who want to switch to rooftop solar, which is an alternative to adding large-scale solar to residential or commercial rooftops. That move is part of a broader policy encouraging renewable energy alternatives.
One key component to the plan is a new program that would eliminate the incentives currently offered through Solar Choice, a program that offers tax breaks for customers who choose to purchase solar panels for their homes or offices. The new policy would make the existing Solar Choice program a mandatory part of the state’s Renewables Initiative, which is a state program with the goal of encouraging customers to purchase renewable energy.
The Solar Choice program has been in place since 2014, when the state began implementing the RPS program, which is meant to make it faster and easier for customers to switch to renewable energy sources. Some customers have complained about the Solar Choice program, arguing that it’s too expensive and that it unfairly drives down the cost of other, cheaper electricity options.
California had been considering whether to discontinue Solar Choice, but after a series of meetings with Solar Choice customers, including some who have been in the program since 2012, state regulators decided on a new approach.
“The program that was in place was very expensive,” said David Anderson, a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. He said a recent report showing that solar is cost competitive with electricity in some places in the United States was a factor in the decision to make the Solar Choice program mandatory.
The move is a reversal of decisions made in 2014 and 2015, when the state considered whether to end Solar Choice. At the time, the
