September 29, 2024 – SAN DIEGO— A San Diego County Superior Court judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a new California regulation that would prohibit solar contractors from installing or maintaining battery storage. Consumer and solar advocates had requested a preliminary injunction to pause the new rule’s implementation, set for Oct. 1, pending resolution of their lawsuit challenging it.

The Contractors State License Board’s rule would increase the cost and administrative burden of installing rooftop solar and storage, vital technologies that make communities more resilient to utility blackouts and the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency.

“It’s a huge relief that this regressive rule is on hold because it would further handcuff California’s rooftop solar industry and put livelihoods, the environment and the climate at risk,” said Roger Lin, a senior attorney at the Center. “Instead of following the law, California’s contracting board is trying to undermine our state’s climate goals, prop up a brittle electricity grid and put clean energy further out of reach for working-class families. We’re looking forward to defeating this disastrous regulation for good.”

Thursday’s ruling follows a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, CalPIRG, the Solar Rights Alliance, the California Solar & Storage Association, and a solar contractor.

The contractors board refused to consider how the new regulation would harm small businesses, which have been hammered by plummeting rooftop solar installation rates and historic job losses. It amended the license for solar contractors without analyzing the potential economic impacts, as state law requires. Hundreds of people told the board the regulation would have a chilling effect on rooftop solar installations.

“It’s great that the court is putting a pause on this misguided decision by the licensing board.” said Jenn Engstrom, state director of CALPIRG. “Consumers should be able to go to the contractor of their choosing to install and maintain solar storage, especially the people they already vetted and picked to put up their solar panels. The CSLB’s decision will not only delay services and cost more for consumers, but also will slow the installation of solar and storage across the state, making it even harder for us to hit our clean energy goals.”

The board also refused to consider the new regulation’s potential environmental harms, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act. Its actions conflict with the California Air Resources Board’s determination that at least twice as much rooftop solar is needed to meet the state’s climate targets and the U.S. global agreement to triple renewable energy by 2030.

“We’re grateful for the court's decision today,” said Dave Rosenfeld, executive director of Solar Rights Alliance. “The CSLB’s new regulations jeopardize consumer solar warranties and disregards the overwhelming input that consumers from across the state provided the CSLB. The CSLB’s decision is yet another effort by the monopoly utilities to squash rooftop solar. We look forward to making our case to the court.”

For-profit utilities across the country are spending tremendous resources lobbying decision-makers to gut rooftop solar and storage programs because distributed energy resources, like rooftop solar, threaten their bottom line.

The Center has challenged the California Public Utilities Commission’s decision to gut net metering, now pending before the California Supreme Court.

CalPIRG and the Solar Rights Alliance are represented in the litigation by the San Franciso public interest law firm Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

CalPIRG is an advocate for the public interest and speaks out for the public and stands up to special interest on problems that affect the public’s health, safety and wellbeing. CalPIRG is part of a network of state-based, citizen-funded Public Interest Research Groups and The Public Interest Network.

Solar Rights Alliance is a nonprofit association of California solar users and includes homeowners, renters, businesses, nonprofits, schools and others from all parts of California and walks of life.

Source: Center for Biological Diversity