Source: LA Times | By Sammy Roth

This story originally published in Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

No matter how many times I write about renewable energy — about sprawling solar farms, towering wind turbines and lengthy power lines carrying clean electricity to faraway cities — there’s one question I get asked again and again and again:

Why do we need all that industrial infrastructure when we can put solar panels on rooftops and parking lots instead?

It’s a great question — and one I attempt to answer in my latest story, published this week….

Big surprise: There are no easy answers. But there are some baseline realities that I hope you’ll consider.

Source: Inside Climate News | By Emma Foehringer Merchant

“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.”

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.

Source: The Washington Post | By Emma Foehringer Merchant

“There’s no guarantee that an individual CCA is going to have a superior environmental footprint to the utility,” Freedman says…

For many Americans, rooftop solar panels just aren’t an option, whether that’s because they live in apartment buildings, their homes…

Source: GVWire.com | By Nancy Price

“Unless we can moderate the electricity rates, we’re going to end up in a situation where more and more people can’t afford to pay their…”

Rising electricity rates in California are on a “collision course” with the state’s goal to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2045, says Mark.…

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune | By Rob Nikolewski

Thursday’s vote “a small step in the right direction” but said the decision “fails to significantly reduce the rapidly growing portion…”

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday overhauled its rules for rooftop solar power, slashing subsidies for new solar…

Source: San Francisco Examiner | By Jessica Wolfrom

“This is a program to benefit homeowners that is paid for by other homeowners and renters,” said Freedman of TURN. “If you are a renter, …”