{"id":598,"date":"2021-11-01T22:24:39","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/?p=598"},"modified":"2021-11-01T22:26:24","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:26:24","slug":"california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"California Public Utilities Commission Votes to Approve Review of Solar Consumer Assistance Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>By Benjamin L. Sheinman<\/h3>\n<p>On May 19, 2021, Commissioner Guzman Aceves issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/9TWH-TES4\">proposed decision<\/a> to establish a solar consumer assistance fund for Net Energy Metering customers.\u00a0 This proposal was in response to a broader policy goal of \u201censuring that customers experiencing inadequate solar installations receive assistance.\u201d\u00a0 On July 16, 2021, and concurrent with this rulemaking process, \u00a0Governor Newsom signed into law <a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB137\">AB 137 (Committee on Budget) (Chapter 77, Statutes of 2021)<\/a> which requires the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) to administer a newly established Solar Energy System Restitution Program.\u00a0 The California State Budget Act of 2021 appropriated $5 million to \u00a0CSLB \u201cfor the purpose of providing restitution to consumers who have suffered financial loss or injury due to the unlawful acts of a residential solar energy system contractor that has not been and will not be fully reimbursed from any other source.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Commissioner Aceves subsequently modified her proposed decision to reflect the newly established fund to be administered by CSLB itself and eliminated from the proposal the CPUC fund for solar customers. The revised proposed decision requires Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&amp;E) to host a workshop when the \u201cContractors State License Board publishes a notice that it has paid out fifty percent of the available Solar Energy System Restitution Program funds.\u201d\u00a0 The purpose of the workshop is to review the CSLB program and make broader recommendations to the CPUC.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed decision concludes the \u201c[p]rovision of financial assistance to customers who expended funds on inadequate solar energy systems directly supports the NEM program and the Commission\u2019s statutory duty to support a sustainable distributed renewable generation market in the State.\u201d\u00a0 Additionally, the decision concludes that \u201c[i]t is reasonable to establish a process to assess the need for a solar consumer assistance fund, based on the CSLB\u2019s distribution of funds under the Solar Energy System Restitution Program.\u201d\u00a0 Hence, it appears that while the CPUC is deferring to CSLB for the solar fund, it will be monitoring its performance and the fund\u2019s solvency and may not be entirely delegating the matter.<\/p>\n<p>However, on September 23, 2021, the Commission <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/PS6M-G6XV\">approved<\/a> the proposed decision of Commissioner Guzman Aceves by a vote of three to two. CPUC President Batjer and Commissioner Houck dissented from the commission\u2019s decision. In her dissenting comments, President Batjer observed that the proposed decision seemed to imply that the Commission had the authority to establish a consumer assistance fund, which she found dubious, stating that such a fund was outside the Commission\u2019s jurisdiction.\u00a0 Additionally, President Batjer stated that it was not appropriate for the Commission to monitor the Contractors State License Board\u2019s program\u2014and viewed it as an infringement upon that board\u2019s authority.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequent to the Commission\u2019s vote to approve the decision on September 23, 2021, the proceeding was closed.\u00a0 Any future commission action with regard to a solar consumer assistance fund will now require the opening of a new proceeding.<\/p>\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-follow synved-social-size-32 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Follow us on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPILUSD\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:32px;height:32px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Follow us on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-follow\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" style=\"display: inline;width:32px;height:32px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/circle\/64x64\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-follow synved-social-size-32 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Follow us on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cpilusd\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:32px;height:32px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Follow us on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-follow\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" style=\"display: inline;width:32px;height:32px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/addons\/extra-icons\/image\/social\/circle\/64x64\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Benjamin L. Sheinman On May 19, 2021, Commissioner Guzman Aceves issued a proposed decision to establish a solar consumer assistance fund for Net Energy Metering customers.\u00a0 This proposal was in response to a broader policy goal of \u201censuring that <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1013,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132914,132865],"tags":[137891,132867,132903,132991,137890],"coauthors":[132864],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legislation-public-utilities-commission","category-public-utilities-commission","tag-ab137","tag-cpuc","tag-cslb","tag-pge","tag-solar-energy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>California Public Utilities Commission Votes to Approve Review of Solar Consumer Assistance Fund - Consumer Protection Policy Center - Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California Public Utilities Commission Votes to Approve Review of Solar Consumer Assistance Fund - Consumer Protection Policy Center - Blog\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Benjamin L. Sheinman On May 19, 2021, Commissioner Guzman Aceves issued a proposed decision to establish a solar consumer assistance fund for Net Energy Metering customers.\u00a0 This proposal was in response to a broader policy goal of \u201censuring that Continue reading &rarr;\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Consumer Protection Policy Center - Blog\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-01T22:24:39+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-01T22:26:24+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Gonzalez\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Gonzalez\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Gonzalez\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fdc87a266320b80c7a790bdc2a17df69\"},\"headline\":\"California Public Utilities Commission Votes to Approve Review of Solar Consumer Assistance Fund\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-01T22:24:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-01T22:26:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/\"},\"wordCount\":493,\"commentCount\":1,\"keywords\":[\"AB137\",\"CPUC\",\"CSLB\",\"PG&amp;E\",\"solar energy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Legislation\",\"Public Utilities Commission\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/\",\"name\":\"California Public Utilities Commission Votes to Approve Review of Solar Consumer Assistance Fund - 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Sheinman On May 19, 2021, Commissioner Guzman Aceves issued a proposed decision to establish a solar consumer assistance fund for Net Energy Metering customers.\u00a0 This proposal was in response to a broader policy goal of \u201censuring that Continue reading &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/","og_site_name":"Consumer Protection Policy Center - Blog","article_published_time":"2021-11-01T22:24:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-01T22:26:24+00:00","author":"Katie Gonzalez","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Gonzalez","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/"},"author":{"name":"Katie Gonzalez","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fdc87a266320b80c7a790bdc2a17df69"},"headline":"California Public Utilities Commission Votes to Approve Review of Solar Consumer Assistance Fund","datePublished":"2021-11-01T22:24:39+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-01T22:26:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/"},"wordCount":493,"commentCount":1,"keywords":["AB137","CPUC","CSLB","PG&amp;E","solar energy"],"articleSection":["Legislation","Public Utilities Commission"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/cpil-blog\/2021\/11\/01\/california-public-utilities-commission-votes-to-approve-review-of-solar-consumer-assistance-fund\/","name":"California Public Utilities Commission Votes to Approve Review of Solar Consumer Assistance Fund - 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