Environmental Groups File Court Challenge on California Rooftop Solar Policy

Source: Inside Climate News  |  By Emma Foehringer Merchant

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Working Group, and the Protect Our Communities Foundation allege that California utility regulators, who in December approved a policy change that would significantly lower compensation for new rooftop solar projects, erred in their decision by not properly accounting for all of the costs and benefits of those systems. 

“Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney at The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a consumer advocacy group that said the commission did not go far enough to address the cost-shift for non-solar customers, said the lawsuit is premature because commissioners have not responded to the rehearing request the groups filed in January. And he expects the case will face steep odds in winning its “preferred policy outcomes.”

“The courts have typically been very reluctant to second-guess factual determinations made by the CPUC given the complexity of the issues,” Freedman said in an email.”