Our Solar Rights Protected
We won one! Thanks to advocacy from many organizations and individuals, the California legislature voted to protect homeowners’ existing solar contracts. The Senate completely changed AB 942, which would not only have broken the existing contracts of homeowners with rooftop solar but also punished them.
According to analysis by the Solar Rights Alliance, the Senate removed everything that targeted or discriminated against rooftop solar customers. The original bill blamed solar installations for high electricity rates, which is false.
A new rule in the bill simply says that households with an annual electricity bill of less than $300 will not get the annual California Climate Credit — regardless of whether they have solar or are completely on the grid.
At the same time, every household will pay a utility tax of around $300 per year for being connected to the grid, starting in 2026.
In this new version of the bill:
All existing solar contracts remain protected from retroactive changes
The bill no longer blames rooftop solar users for rising electricity rates
The bill no longer punishes solar users for having rooftop panels
The Solar Rights Alliance praised Senator Josh Becker, chair of the Senate Energy Committee, for leading the effort to make sure the bill wouldn’t target solar customers. In fact, Becker thanked solar users for their investments in clean energy.
Not every legislator voted in favor of this amended bill. See how each voted here.
Said Solar Rights Alliance Executive Director Dave Rosenfeld and Advocacy and Development Director Cailey Underhill, “The sun belongs to everyone, and you have the right to make energy from the sun without unreasonable interference or unfair punishment from the utilities or the government. We will continue to fight for these common-sense principles and we hope you do as well.”
ThirdAct Organization article:
https://thirdact.org/bay-area/2025/07/17/our-solar-rights-protected/