SAN FRANCISCO – California’s Supreme Court today issued its opinion in a case challenging the California Public Utilities Commission’s decision to gut the state’s rooftop solar incentive program, known as net energy metering, or NEM 3.
The case was filed by the Environmental Working Group, Center for Biological Diversity and Protect our Communities Foundation.
The court decided in favor of the environmental groups, reversing the judgement of the Court of Appeal and sending it back to the lower court for further proceedings. The appeals court will have to reconsider the merits of the CPUC’s 2022 decision under the correct standard of review.
Today’s decision is a win for accountability. The Supreme Court made clear that the CPUC is not above the law and must be held to fair and independent legal review – not the unduly deferential standard the Court of Appeal used in its now-reversed judgment.
The following is a statement from EWG’s Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice president for California:
This is a huge win for the public interest. The sun shines a little brighter in California today. The California Supreme Court has ruled in our favor that the CPUC is not above the law, and the Court of Appeal must revisit their NEM 3 decision, which gutted California’s rooftop solar market.
For too long, California politicians and their agency appointees have sided with powerful utilities over consumers and the public interest, stifling competition, consumer choice and clean energy.
It took the Supreme Court to blow the whistle, but finally we are being heard.
California needs a large, thriving rooftop solar market to meet its clean energy goals and lower the cost of electricity for everyone. The CPUC’s misguided 2022 NEM 3 decision is undermining not only consumer choice and grid stability but also the state’s ambitious clean energy goals.
We look forward to returning to the Court of Appeal and spotlighting just how out of step with California the CPUC has become.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
