California has been a leader in solar power, but a cap on net metering could put the brakes on this thriving movement. Here's how net metering works: solar customers sell excess power back to the utility company. On sunny days, the utility company captures the surplus power generated by a solar panel, uses it somewhere else, and gives the panel owner a credit which the enlightened solar panel owner uses on a gloomy day when he has to tap into the conventional power grid.
It's a beautiful win/win scenario for everybody. The guy with a solar panel can still turn his lights on when there's no sun, the guy down the street with no solar panel still makes use of clean energy, and the utility company can meet the energy needs of the whole population.
Despite the obvious merits of this system, new solar customers could get turned away because of a little-known cap on net metering. The Public Utilities Commission can lift that cap, though. Tell the PUC to do the right thing and lift it!
We the undersigned beg you to lift the solar power net metering cap. We could not be more delighted with the strides California has taken in solar power and the number of businesses and residents that have invested in it. You need, however, to keep this momentum going. It would be terrible if new customers were turned away because of a cap on net metering that favors only the utility companies, not the public at large. Please do the right thing and lift that cap!
