A Critical Look at California’s New Balcony Solar Bill

FEATURING BERNADETTE DEL CHIARO - Gavin Newsom is wrapping up his tenure as California’s governor by signing a spate of bills into law, among them, a much-touted balcony solar bill. At a time when electricity rates are spiking, residents of California will soon be able to plug in solar panels onto their balconies and generate small amounts of power to offset their high utility bills. 

While the new law sounds like progress toward a transition to renewable energy, residential solar panel installations on rooftops in California have dramatically fallen in the last several years, not the least because the California Public Utilities Commission, which is strongly allied with Newsom, fought hard to slash solar incentives. 

Bernadette Del Chiaro is a Senior Vice President with the Environmental Working Group, building the organization in California to continue its groundbreaking work on advancing critical environmental and public health priorities. She has 30 years of experience working through non-profit organizations on the goals of clean energy and a healthier environment. She helped put the new bill into context in an interview with Sonali Kolhatkar.