California’s 26-year-old program to get more people to put solar panels on their homes has been wildly successful, but state regulators may lower the incentives for people to go solar in a bid to reduce electricity bills for the rest of residents in the most populous U.S. state. Current incentives allow residential solar customers to sell whatever energy they don’t use back to power companies at the retail rate for power, usually resulting in a big discount on their energy bills. The future of the program, known as “net energy metering,” has prompted a fierce debate between the state's major utilities and the solar industry. Regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees the state's major utilities and the rates they can set, are expected to issue proposed reforms on Monday.
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California may cut rooftop solar incentives as market booms
