California Solar Bill Amended, Preserves 20-Year Rooftop Solar Agreements

California solar bill, Assembly Bill 942, Caitlyn Kelley, rooftop solar, solar energy, Palm Springs, Southern California Edison, Lisa Calderon, solar advocates, real estate impact

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Homeowners across California are breathing a sigh of relief this week after state lawmakers amended a controversial solar bill that could have drastically altered existing solar agreements.

Assembly Bill 942, introduced earlier this year by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, originally proposed slashing the grandfathered 20-year solar agreements with utility companies like Southern California Edison down to just 10 years. It also included a provision that would have eliminated those agreements entirely if a homeowner sold their property.

Solar advocates and real estate agents pushed back hard, arguing the bill would undermine consumer trust and the state’s clean energy goals. NBC Palm Springs' Caitlyn Kelley reports the bill was amended Tuesday, with Calderon formally accepting changes that remove the most controversial provisions.

“Thank God this didn’t get pushed through,” one solar advocate said, adding that keeping the 20-year grandfathering intact protects the financial savings homeowners expect when installing solar panels.

Real estate professionals also expressed relief, noting that altering those agreements would have created uncertainty in the housing market. “It would have had a direct impact,” one agent said. “People wouldn’t purchase homes with solar if the contracts changed unexpectedly.”

Calderon stated the bill was originally aimed at addressing what she called a cost shift—where non-solar customers subsidize solar customers. But solar industry leaders like Brad Hevner from the California Solar and Storage Alliance dispute that claim. “This is bad math straight from the utilities,” Hevner said. “When people go solar, it actually saves money for everybody.”

The bill’s changes represent a compromise between honoring signed contracts and attempting to balance California’s energy costs.

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