California’s Solar Policy Shift: NEM Elimination Sparks Concerns Amid Ambitious Clean Energy Goals and Affordability Crisis.

California’s rooftop solar policy was implemented in 2023, eliminating net energy metering (NEM) and moving towards a net billing tariff (NBT) structure. This change essentially reduced the rate paid to customers for exporting excess solar production to the grid by about 80%. However, 80% of the systems installed were NEM 2.0 installations to secure the more lucrative rate structure. To date, about 50,000 systems have been interconnected under the new NBT structure, with 200,000 NEM systems interconnected over the same period. However, data from EnergySage suggests a more sustained downturn in the U.S. This is not ideal for California, which has ambitious clean energy goals and an electricity affordability crisis. The high battery attachment rate offers customers some benefits, including the potential for future grid maintenance and increased electricity usage.