LOS ANGELES— The California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging the California Public Utility Commission’s decision to significantly slash the credit new solar users get for sharing excess energy with the grid.

What: Oral arguments on the legality of California Public Utility Commission’s rooftop-solar net-metering policy

When: 9 a.m., Wednesday, June 4

Where: California Supreme Court, Ronald Reagan State Office Building, 300 S. Spring St., Third Floor, North Tower, Los Angeles, CA, 90013. The hearing will also be livestreamed.

Who: Attorneys for the Center for Biological Diversity, The Protect Our Communities Foundation, and Environmental Working Group will be available after the hearing.

Background
The commission’s updated net-metering policy, which took effect in April 2023, slashes customer credits by up to 80% for electricity generated on rooftops and sold back to the grid. This has stymied efforts to expand rooftop solar in the state, particularly in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, and led to huge layoffs in the solar industry. It also violated state law, which requires that the commission ensure the rooftop solar market keeps growing, particularly in environmental justice communities.

In 2022 the Center for Biological Diversity, The Protect Our Communities Foundation, and the Environmental Working Group challenged the state’s new policy. Although the California Court of Appeal rejected the challenge, the California Supreme Court accepted petitioners’ appeal of that ruling. In May the state Supreme Court issued a focus letter asking whether the lower court should have followed a state law that requires the reviewing court to consider the commission’s decisions as it would those of any state agency, rather than deferring to the commission.