At the start of the year, it was clear one of the hottest topics of debate early in 2022 was centered around net metering. Specifically, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) is debated and expected to put to a vote changes to the net metering rules.Â
The Golden State was one of the early leaders in rooftop solar energy, and one of the reasons for that was the state's generous net metering rules that allowed owners of rooftop solar systems (both residential and commercial) to rapidly offset the initial costs of their investments by selling their excess generation to the grid at full retail rates. This landscape was undoubtedly key to California's early solar surge, but now CPUC is debating whether that large incentive for rooftop solar should be rolled back and ensure owners of large solar systems are paying into the maintenance of the grid (part of non-solar utility bills but which they have been able to offset thanks to selling their self-generated power for full retail price).Â
This issue has attracted vast national attention on the state of solar and net metering more widely, and the industry will surely be watching the outcome of the upcoming vote and the fall out regardless of which direction it goes. To stay on top of this critical topic, we've added a new topic tag, 'Net Metering' to the list of our topics to provide a place for our community members to share their thoughts and insights around the subject at hand. I hope those of you who are following the discussions around the subject will take a minute to chime in and share your insights with the community by starting a post today.Â