Property Owners Would Be Able to Use Power They Generate for Themselves
(The Independent) - A bill that would enable schools, shopping centers and landlords of multi-unit residential buildings to use the electricity they collect with their own rooftop solar systems has passed the California Legislature.
If signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, SB 1374 will reverse a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision last year that required solar panel owners with multiple meters on their properties to sell the electricity they generated to utility companies, instead of utilizing it to offset what they were purchasing from PG&E and other power companies.
“It requires the CPUC to apply the same rules for distributive solar to schools and apartment buildings as it does for single family homes, by allowing them to self-consume the energy they generate on site,” Assembly member Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, said Aug. 29 before the body voted 48-9 to approve the measure. “We’re talking about our schools and people with apartment buildings putting up solar panels so they can use the power themselves.
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