June 3, 2021
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Broad Grassroots Coalition Rallied to Keep California a Pro-Solar State Against “All Odds”
AB 1139, “the Utility Profit Grab” bill, officially died today when the author, Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), failed to garner the votes needed for passage moving it to the “inactive file.” Our lead lobbyist, Kim Stone, led a robust and effective effort inside the capitol to defeat this monster of a bill. And our grassroots coalition, including groups like Solar Rights Alliance, Environment California, Indivisible, and many others, along with CALSSA’s field work coordinated among over 600 member companies, was the magic mix that overcame the special interest power of the utilities in the state Capitol.
Thankfully, the legislature and the public saw through the smokescreen of negativity levied on solar energy by utilities such as PG&E. AB 1139 was a well-funded and power-backed effort by the big investor-owned utilities to change the rules in their favor so they can profit off the energy created by solar consumers and eliminate a growing competitor in the energy market. However, they ultimately failed to accomplish their goal via the legislature. The fight continues at the CPUC, where the power of the utilities is high and the voice of the public less pronounced.
AB 1139 would have moved California backward in its efforts to transition to clean energy. It would have broken a promise to hundreds of thousands of solar consumers by adding new fees and reducing the credit they receive for excess energy sent back to the grid. It would have taken California from leading the nation in expanding solar in working- and middle-class neighborhoods to a solar unfriendly state where clean energy is accessible only to the rich.
The deep popularity of rooftop solar presented itself in the form of a massive outpouring of voter opposition to AB 1139. Many legislators’ offices were jammed with phone calls from constituents urging their assembly member to vote against the bill.
Thousands of solar consumers, workers, small business leaders, and environmentalists made their voices heard in the California legislature. Californians overwhelmingly want rooftop solar to continue to grow and, along with it, the benefits of good jobs and clean, reliable energy for communities all over the state.
While AB 1139 is dead for the year, the fight over net metering is far from over. The California Public Utilities Commission is in the process of considering adjustments to net metering in the coming months. Utilities are extremely active in this forum as well, asking for many of the same changes to net metering contemplated in AB 1139. Members of the public can sign a petition to Governor Newsom and the CPUC at www.SaveCaliforniaSolar.org. So far, over 30,000 people have joined the campaign effort.
AB 1139 was introduced by Lorena Gonzalez, chair of the influential appropriations committee. It was sponsored by the Coalition of Utility Employees which is closely aligned with PG&E and supported by many powerful legislators in the state Assembly. It sailed through the Energy Committee and the Appropriations Committee, which Gonzalez chairs, but it came up far short of its required 41 votes on the Assembly Floor on June 2, receiving only 27 aye votes. The bill was up for reconsideration today but was moved to the inactive file, tabling it until next year, and essentially killing it. The CPUC is expected to act on net metering reforms before or around the same time the legislature reconvenes in 2022.
This was a hard bill to defeat because of the power brokers lined up behind it. But California is headed toward clean energy and, if the voters are given a voice, it is going to be very hard to knock us off that path.
A million thanks to all our members who took action to help defeat this bill. The phone calls and financial donations, the videos and social media posts, and the historic solar work truck motorcade around the State Capitol all helped defeat AB 1139. This victory is shared by many.
