Community Solar Advocates Call on State Leadership to Halt Devastating Blow to Equitable Access to Solar Resources
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lycia Ortega, Vote Solar, (928) 750-0581, lortega@votesolar.org
Community Solar Advocates Call on State Leadership to Halt Devastating Blow to Equitable Access to Solar Resources
The recent proposed decision puts CA behind in achieving a clean energy future and puts federal funding at risk.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 7, 2024) – Vote Solar, California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA), and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) urge immediate action to avoid the devastating impacts of the proposed decision (PD) by the California Public Utilities Commission this week, which would reject the Net Value Billing Tariff (NVBT) community solar and storage proposal championed by a broad coalition of environmental justice, labor, developers, and affordability advocates.
The NVBT community solar and storage program would enable customers to benefit from thousands of low-cost clean and reliable community solar and storage projects. Projects would include storage to help boost grid reliability, and importantly, provide a clean energy option to the millions of Californians who rent or otherwise aren’t able to install a solar system directly. Access to solar bill savings is especially needed as millions of low-income households are behind on their bills, and there is federal funding at stake that could bring greater benefits for these households.
Regrettably, the Commission’s proposed decision would reject the NVBT program, and instead proposes an alternative based on methods that have failed to build projects. Instead of learning from past mistakes, the PD continues to rely on an uneconomic model that has failed for years, thus violating the AB 2316 requirements for robust access to community solar. This program would not work for Californians.
We are calling for the Commission and State leadership to ensure this PD is amended, and instead adopt the NVBT which is a proven model for community solar and storage throughout the country. Doing this will be critical to unlock equitable community solar and storage access for all Californians, safely retire polluting gas plants in overburdened communities, and put the State in a better position for securing time-sensitive federal funding.
###
About Vote Solar
Vote Solar is an energy justice non-profit working towards a 100% clean energy future by bringing solar to the mainstream. Founded in 2002, Vote Solar advocates for clean energy in legislative and regulatory arenas at the state level, where most decisions about electricity are made. Despite powerful opposition, we use a winning combination of deep policy expertise, coalition building, and public engagement to get the job done. To learn more, visit: https://votesolar.org/
About California Environmental Justice Alliance
The California Environmental Justice Alliance is a statewide, community-led alliance that works to achieve environmental justice by advancing policy solutions. We unite the powerful local organizing of our members in the communities most impacted by environmental hazards – low-income communities and communities of color – to create comprehensive opportunities for change at a statewide level to alleviate poverty and pollution. To learn more, visit: https://caleja.org/
About Natural Resources Defense Council
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd). Visit us at http://www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.