SACRAMENTO, California — California Supreme Court justices heard arguments for and against the California Public Utilities Commission’s 2022 decision to slash subsidies for new rooftop solar customers on Wednesday morning, zeroing in the energy regulator’s authority to make such decisions.
What happened: The California Supreme Court took up the case on appeal after a lower court had ruled against environmental groups who had sued to overturn the decision. Attorneys for the environmental groups, the CPUC and investor-owned utilities went back and forth with the justices for roughly an hour.
Why this matters: The CPUC’s decision to reduce the payments rooftop solar customers get from selling energy back to the grid through a process called “net metering” has ignited a political firestorm. On one side, rooftop solar companies and environmental groups have said the decision is hurting a promising climate technology; on the other regulators, ratepayer advocates and utilities have said the decision spreads the costs of maintaining the grid more fairly among rooftop solar customers and non-rooftop solar customers.
More details: Malinda Dickerson, the attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Working Group and the Protect Our Communities Foundation, argued that the CPUC went beyond the law’s intent by not considering all the benefits of the solar panels and not doing enough to encourage the panels in disadvantaged communities. Dickerson also argued that a 1998 state law reduced the level of deference the court owed to the California Public Utilities Commission.
