Education and health bodies in California warn against VNEM changes – “We all lose”

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Previous changes to net metering in California have been met with criticism. Image: SMA Solar

A coalition of School Board representatives, healthcare advocates and “climate leaders” in the North Bay area of California has spoken out against the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) proposal to alter the virtual net energy metering scheme (VNEM) in the state.

Ahead of the CPUC vote on the VNEM proposal, due to take place later today (2nd November), healthcare and education representatives alongside state assembly representatives have said that the proposed changes would “make it unaffordable for North Bay non-profit community health centers, schools, apartments, farms and businesses to go solar.”

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Assemblymember Damon Connolly said: “Preserving a robust net energy metering tariff is essential to the ability of health centers, schools, farms, and multifamily properties to reduce their utility burden through rooftop solar and help meet our state’s climate action and resiliency goals. “I join our health centers in calling on the California Public Utility Commission to amend its proposal to include on-site netting to allow these facilities access to solar-generated power while continuing to support disproportionately underserved communities.”

According to the signatories, changes would remove the ability for properties with multiple electricity meters – like rental apartment blocks, schools, health centres and small businesses – to consume the energy that they produce on-site without selling it all to the utility and buying it back at higher rates.

Under current legislation, a multi-meter property can install a solar PV system with the credits for the energy produced to be shared between the different meters in the form of bill reductions.

“Petaluma Health Center is committed to reducing our carbon footprint by investing in solar systems and battery storage, however, when we are forced to buy back the energy we create from the utilities at an inflated amount, we all lose, especially the historically underserved communities we serve,” said Pedro Toledo, CEO of the Petaluma Health Center, a multi-meter property with solar that will be adversely impacted by the CPUC decision if approved without on-site netting.

“This change would mean we would have to pay hundreds of thousands to PG&E to buy back the solar power we create, instead of investing those dollars in developing and implementing climate resiliency programs for the people we serve.”

The last time around

In December, the CPUC voted on a controversial change to the regular net energy metering (NEM) legislation which affects single-meter properties. The change from NEM 2.0 to NEM 3.0 drastically reduced the compensation afforded to homeowners for excess power produced on their solar system and exported back to the grid.

Ahead of that vote in December, many figures in the solar industry vehemently opposed the proposal and foresaw that it would “cut solar off at the knees”. The CPUC said that the change is intended to incentivise battery storage systems to increase grid resilience and reward consumers for using stored energy at peak times.

As the 5th largest economy in the world, with a long-running history of promoting solar power, California has been seen as a bellwether for the global market, particularly where rooftop and residential solar is concerned. Between December 2022 and April 2023, between the vote and the passage of NEM 3.0, the Californian market reported a spike in solar installations as consumers looked to capitalise on NEM 2.0 before it ended.  

More on this story to follow…

17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.
7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.

Read Next

June 9, 2025
Solar manufacturer Qcells has launched a recycling arm, called EcoRecycle, and a recycling plant in the US state of Georgia.
June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 9, 2025
US residential solar installer Sunnova has laid off more than half of its workforce, while a subsidiary from Delaware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
June 6, 2025
rPlus Energies has secured more than US$500 million for an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Emery County, Utah, US.  
June 6, 2025
Australia’s Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has called on Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, to “urgently intervene” on a rule change that could threaten to derail the uptake of rooftop solar PV.
June 5, 2025
Policy uncertainty in the US is likely to disrupt investment in clean energy, according to a recent report from Crux.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece