<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>By Angela Lipanovich and Jenny Folkeson, especially for CalMatters</p> <figure> <img decoding="async" width=""1200"" height=""800"" src=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/042226-Solar-Panels-MG-01-CM.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1"" class=""attachment-post-thumbnail" size-post-thumbnail="" wp-post-image="" alt="""" decoding=""async"" loading=""lazy"" srcset=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/042226-Solar-Panels-MG-01-CM.jpg?w=2000&ssl=1" https:="" sizes=""auto,"/><figcaption>Solar panels on Elk Grove homes on April 22, 2026. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters</figcaption></figure> <p>This comment was originally posted by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">CalMatters</a>. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Sign up</a> for their newsletters.</p> <p>Guest Comment written by</p> <p>Re: “<a href=""https://calmatters.org/commentary/2026/05/electric-bills-california-fees/"" type=""link"">Californians’ electric bills would be much lower without the state program’s fees</a>“</p> <p>A recent CalMatters guest comment tells the California affordability story right back. Rooftop solar doesn’t increase utility bills — wildfire capital and guaranteed utility profits are the dominant drivers.</p> <p>California Public Defenders Office <a href=""https://www.publicadvocates.cpuc.ca.gov/press-room/reports-and-analyses/wildfire-cost-increases-of-california-electric-ious"" type=""link"">attributed approximately 21% of rates</a> to wildfire-related capital, the single biggest driver of recent rate increases. The California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s utility regulator, also <a href=""https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/12/regulators-cut-electric-bill-profits/"" type=""link"">guarantees returns to the three investor-owned utilities</a> on equity to almost 10%. Last year, CEO pay alone reached $19.8 million. </p> <p>Each payer covers these costs.</p> <p>The rooftop solar ‘subsidy’ is a tariff scheme, not a cash transfer. The Natural Resources Defense Council describes it as <a href=""https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/PGE_Rates_Report_R_25-03-A_03.pdf"" type=""link"">fixed cost recovery from utilities on flat sales</a>rather than payment from non-solar to solar customers. Research shows that existing rooftop solar <a href=""https://mcubedecon.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/calssa_rooftop-solar-reduces-costs-for-all-ratepayers-2025.pdf"" type=""link"">actually saved all payers</a> an estimated $1.5 billion in 2024 alone by reducing peak load and delaying transmission construction. The latest version of the state’s rooftop solar program already cut solar credits by 75%, but wildfire costs have no such cap.</p> <p>True affordability means reforming pricing designs and expanding solar ownership to more renters, low-income families, and small businesses—not scapegoat customers who generate their own clean energy.</p> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/commentary/reader-reactions/2026/05/critics-california-rooftop-solar-costs/"">originally published on CalMatters</a> and is republished under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives</a> license.</p> <p> Copy the HTML
