What PG & E and other private electric companies want to do to Californians for going solar.

[Cleita]

I just got this in my email. It makes me even more disgusted with the energy companies.

Big Energy -- Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric - -- is banding together to make it harder for Californians to generate their own clean solar power. They recently filed a crippling proposal with our state’s utility regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), that punishes Californians with unfair fees for going solar.(1) Why? Because these corporate energy giants are terrified that clean energy programs like rooftop solar will threaten their precious profits!

California is a leader in clean energy. And with your help, we can continue to lead the nation by refusing to let greedy energy companies decide California’s policy.

SIGN THE PETITION to tell the CPUC to commit to clean energy by standing up to greedy energy companies!

Net metering, the current policy in California and over 40 other states, gives solar customers fair, full credit for the clean energy they produce. It also allows customers to send excess energy back to the grid for others to use.(2) It is a big reason why we have more than TRIPLED the amount of rooftop solar in California, and why the average installed rooftop solar costs have dropped by over 50%.(3)

But these energy companies are flexing their financial muscle to convince the CPUC to take away the ability for California's families, businesses, and schools to save on their energy bills by going solar!

In California, the solar industry employs tens of thousands of people and helps cut toxic carbon pollution. But if the CPUC votes in favor of Big Energy’s proposal, they will block the single most successful solar policy in California and the nation. Even worse, it’ll burn a hole in our pockets! Southern California Edison estimates that its proposal would cost new solar customers an extra $800 per year!(4) This deliberate act of price gouging must be stopped!

The CPUC sets the rules on how much homeowners are paid for the energy they generate from their solar panels. That’s why, the CPUC needs to hear from REAL Californians like YOU, Laura! But time is running out! The CPUC is expected to reach their decision by the end of this December.

CLICK HERE to tell the CPUC: Don't cave to Big Energy’s attack on rooftop solar!

If the energy companies get their way, thousands of California residents' solar credits will be SLASHED up to 50%, and they'll be charged an extra fee just for using rooftop solar. This change would no longer make rooftop solar a financial benefit to Californian families.

New legislation (i.e. Senate Bill 350) was just signed into law, setting goals to increase our renewable energy by 50%! And we need to step up if we want to stop Big Energy companies in their tracks from killing off rooftop solar and preventing us from reaching our clean energy goals!

Abandoning our state's smart solar policy would result in higher bills and thousands of lost jobs. But there's more at stake. Energy companies across the United States are watching California. If the CPUC passes Big Energy’s new rules, it’ll encourage more energy companies across the nation to fight clean energy, placing the future of rooftop solar at risk.

We simply cannot let Big Energy get away this. We led our nation once before in the fight for clean energy, and we can do it again. We just need you on our side now.

JOIN US to tell the CPUC to keep moving California forward, not backwards, and expand solar access in California.

Thank you for your courage to stand up for rooftop solar,

Tim, along with Annie, Eddie, Emma, Kelsey, Laura, Lindsay, Paul, and Scottie (the Courage team)

1. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2148?t=5&akid=2213.784496.H4cOAk
2. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2149?t=7&akid=2213.784496.H4cOAk
3. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2148?t=9&akid=2213.784496.H4cOAk
4. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2150?t=11&akid=2213.784496.H4cOAk

I'm sick of these companies and their crummy service and price gouging. It's time we put our electric and other public utilities in the hands of our counties or in customer operated cooperatives. We are still hurting from the gouging Enron did to California. Let's stop it once and for all. Here's the link to sign the petition if you want to:

http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/CPUC_RooftopSolar/?t=2&akid=2213.784496.H4cOAk

[msongs]

1. the sun belongs to all of us, not corporate parasites aided and abetted by government nt

[KamaAina]

2. What KamaAina wants to do to PG&E for going greedy.

With this. Sideways.



Oh, and the muscle being flexed is that of our old friend ALEC. Surprise, surprise! </gomer-pyle>

[MisterP]

3. blow up their whole street through felony neglect?

[Auggie]

4. The San Francisco Chronicle called for Jerry Brown to take a stand on this ...

Thursday, Oct. 28, editorial (last four paragraphs):

There’s little public support for the utilities’ proposal. Polls show that Californians overwhelmingly support the expansion of solar power. A wide cross-section of interest groups, from the Fresno County Farm Bureau to a coalition of affordable housing groups, have sent the CPUC letters in support of current incentives for rooftop panels.

Brown, who appoints the CPUC, has an excellent opportunity to stand up for climate change right here in California.

But when we contacted Brown’s office for comment, spokesman Gareth Lacy referred us to the CPUC and added, “If we have anything to add, I’ll let you know.”

California needs your leadership on this issue, Governor.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Gov-Brown-should-take-a-stand-on-California-s-6596865.php